The mission of the Ministry of Education is to guide the provision of education for all

Zambians so that they are able to pursue knowledge and skills, manifest excellence in
performance and moral uprightness, defend democratic ideals, and accept and value other
persons on the basis of their personal worth and dignity, irrespective of gender, religion,
ethnic origin, or any other discriminatory characteristic. The Ministry has undertaken a
number of reforms in the past just in order to achieve its mission. The recent reform is the
2013 curriculum framework that has brought a number of changes in the Education sector.
One notable reform is the integration of subjects at secondary school which has affected their
position as well as ways of teaching. Although Religious Education (RE) subject has also
been affected, It has been left as an independent optional subject. It is n this interest that the
essay discusses the implications of these reforms on the status and future of RE as a
curriculum subject.

The Zambia Education Curriculum Framework (ZECF) is a guide and set of binding
regulations for all levels of learning institutions that are involved in the provision of formal
education. It shall function as a tool to assist teachers and teacher-educators/instructors in the
implementation of the national policy on education. The provision of education in Zambia is
guided by the democratic principles of liberalisation, decentralisation, equality, equity,
partnership and accountability. The principles of liberalisation and decentralisation entail that
many individuals and organisations are involved in the provision and management of
education, therefore, the need to develop a standard curriculum regulatory framework to be
followed by al (MESVTEE, 2013)l.

Since independence in 1964, the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and
Early Education (MESVTEE) has undertaken three major education policy reforms in its
quest to improve the quality of education provided to learners at different levels. The
Education Act of 1966 was meant to overhaul the whole system in order to meet the
aspirations of an independent African country. The Act paved way to some reforms in
Primary and Secondary education which were aimed at standardising and diversifying the
curriculum, besides relating the content to the needs of the learners.

The Educational Reform of 1977 brought further changes in the education system. The
Primary School and part of the Junior Secondary School Education (Forms 1 and 2) became
Basic School Education while the Senior Secondary Education and part of the Junior
Secondary School Education (Form 3) became High School Education. Basic School

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Education was to be completed in nine years – Grades 1 to 9; whereas High School Education
became a three year course - Grades 10 to 12. At the Teacher Education level, the Zambia
Primary Teacher’s Course was renamed Zambia Basic Education Teacher’s Course in order
to link it to the school course. The curriculum for the Basic School Education underpinned
the importance of teaching survival and communication skills. Practical subjects such as
Industrial Arts and Home Economics and Hospitality were revamped and communicative
methodology became the main feature in the teaching and learning process. These reforms
were implemented in the middle of the 1980s ( Watson; 1993).

Based on the national policy on education, Educating Our Future of 1996, the Teacher
Education Department in 2000 reformed the Zambia Basic Education Teacher’s Course to
Zambia Teacher Education Course (ZATEC) and this followed a change in the teacher
education curriculum (MOE, 1996).

At this point it should be realised that the previous curriculum did not have RE to be entirely
an optional subject as it is in the new reforms. The previous curriculum had streams or
categories at high school where industrial arts classes were not taking RE while the others
like social sciences classes were taking it almost as a compulsory subject. It is true that RE
was also optional for some classes but majority of pupils were doing it. However, it should be
realised that if a teacher’s teaching subjects were RE and English, when a shortage of
teachers of English occurred, the teacher would be asked to teach more of English than RE
classes in many different schools in Zambia. This is to emphasize the point that even in the
previous curriculum RE was somehow still affected negatively. The case is all different with
the new curriculum framework (Mubanga; 1994).

Career Pathways have been created in the curriculum to meet the needs and ambitions of
different learners. The Career Pathways at this level have been linked to the Career Pathways
at the Junior Secondary. There are two pathways; Academic and Technical. Senior Secondary
Schools will offer both Academic and Vocational Career Pathways in the same institution.
However, the Senior Secondary School is be restricted to offering two (2) options under
Academic and two (2) options under Vocational Career Pathways. Wood Work, Metal Work,
Technical Drawing and Building Crafts have been integrated into Design and Technology.
The reason for this is the same as the one at the Junior Secondary School, to equip learners
with a complete set of Design and Technology skills (MESVTEE, 2013).

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In the new reformed curriculum, RE is all but an optional subject. This poses some more
negative implications on the status and future of the subject. Overall, RE is meant to
contribute to social knowledge and understanding. It can therefore help pupils understand
how religion relates to society. RE also contributes to historical knowledge and
understanding. For example, pupils can learn about the influence of Christianity on Zambian
life. Finally, RE can contribute to the moral well being of human beings. In the 1996
education policy, RE has space because it contributes to the holistic education of the learner
(MoE,1996). It being optional now implies that it has a reduced number of periods and only a
few may go for it.

According to Henze (2007:6) in England, RE is often referred to as the fourth ‘R’ by some
scholars. There is a move to refer to it as such because religious literacy means helping pupils
interpret and analyse worldviews. However, a lot of pupils especially non-christians feel that
RE is based more on Bible. As such with Zambia being a Christian nation but open to other
religions, it is becoming had for pupils with such a perspective to go for RE.

In future, RE seems to have a reduced number of enrolments in schools and among teachers
in colleges or universities simply because pupils may opt to go for other subjects such as
geography or Zambian language which may seem easy to understand and apply. Would be
teachers may fear that they may not find employment in schools if only few pupils opt to go
for RE.

However, it is worth still to understand that not every pupil looks at RE in the way described
above. Others still carry the view that RE will continue prospering even as an independent
optional subject simply because it is a passing subject, it teaches about God and good morals
and clubs in schools such as scripture union will continue teaching RE. For these reasons it
can clearly be seen that RE will still find place in schools currently and even in the future
(Henze, 2007).

In conclusion the new curriculum framework poses both negative and positive implications to
status and future of RE. For RE to fare well in the new curriculum a pragmatic approach
within the classroom context to develop pedagogies of RE that inspire and motivate pupils so
that they can themselves become ambassadors for the subject. Teachers of RE should use
methodologies of learning that promote positive perceptions and attitudes towards RE
learners. Apart from having sound religious knowledge, teachers must deepen their

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understanding of the subject matter or learn to think about academic content from a pupils’
point of view and present RE lessons in appropriate and engaging ways.

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 REFERENCES

Henze, B. (Ed.) (2007). Some Basics of RE in Zambia. Ndola: Mission Press.

MESVTEE (2013), Zambia Education Curriculum Framework, Lusaka: Government printers

MoE (1996), Education for All, Lusaka: Government printers

Mubanga, D. S (1994). ‘Teachers Attitude towards RE Teaching’. UNZA: Unpublished

research report.

Watson, B. (1993). The Effective Teaching of Religious Education. London: Longman group.