Torerayi Moyo mandates Heritage-Based Curriculum for all schools

A 2027 deadline for mandatory Heritage-Based Curriculum adoption is about to shake up every school in Zimbabwe, from government classrooms to elite private institutions.

All Zimbabwean schools must adopt the HBC by 2027

• Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerayi Moyo announced that the Heritage-Based Curriculum will become compulsory nationwide starting in 2027.
• The HBC is built around Zimbabwe's natural and cultural resources to churn out job creators rather than job seekers.
• Moyo made the announcement while speaking in the Senate.
• Concerns that some schools were brushing aside Zimbabwe's history and indigenous languages drove the policy shift.

Zimbabwe currently runs three separate curricula

• Government, council, and mission schools already follow the Heritage-Based Curriculum.
• Private and trust schools under the Association of Trust Schools offer both the HBC and the Cambridge curriculum.
• Harare International School runs the International Baccalaureate, a Geneva-based programme catering to ambassador and diplomat families.
• Cambridge Assessment International Education administers the Cambridge curriculum used by some private schools.

Schools wanting to be in Cambridge must apply to keep it

• Any school wishing to hang onto the Cambridge curriculum must file a formal application with the Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education.
• That application needs to spell out exactly how Cambridge will run alongside the mandatory national syllabus.
• No automatic exemptions are on the table, and the HBC takes top billing regardless.
• International Baccalaureate schools like Harare International School fall under the same incoming legal framework.