12 Nov 2023

Ministry of Education and Skills Development is working on a number of reforms to provide equitable, quality and relevant education.

Answering a question in Parliament, Assistant Minister Aubrey Lesaso said the reforms were guided by the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP: 2015-2020) which was developed following comprehensive review, introspection and situational analysis of the education system between 2012 to 2014.

He said the major critical sector strategic priorities provided for in the ETSSP were; improved access and retention, quality and relevance, lifelong learning and improved skills development to produce knowledge and globally competitive workers.

“For this reason, the ministry is actively working on providing equitable, quality and relevant education. While there are still challenges we are determined to continue to produce a globally competitive human resource as espoused in vision 2036,” he said.

He said the ETSSP placed a greater emphasis on skills acquisition through enhanced Vocational Education and Training.

Mr Lesaso further noted that this had seen the introduction of Career Multiple Pathways and new subjects in education to cater for different learner abilities.

He said central to the multiple pathways was focus on vocational, entrepreneurial and life skills to produce a knowledgeable worker, using an outcome-based model education.

The assistant minister said the reforms in education were being implemented in phases using the conventional annual budget allocated by the ministry.

He said the incremental implementation of reforms started in 2015 with the introduction of a reformed pre-primary education system, adding that the short to medium term plans included the continuous capacity-building of teachers to effectively implement; an outcome-based curriculum, the reviewed curriculum and digitalisation.

“These are all ongoing including increased collaboration with the industry to produce work-ready graduates. Longer term plans include infrastructure development and the revitalisation of TVET,” he said.

Specially elected MP, Dr Unity Dow, had asked the minister of Education and Skills Development if he considered the current education system to be producing the appropriate kind of education and training. 

She also wanted to know reforms required in the education and training area to support entrepreneurship. ends