Zimbabwe’s educational curriculum reforms from 2015 to 2024: human rights implications to learners, educators, parents and guardians

The right to education is one of the most critical socio-economic rights for the African child. It unlocks a myriad of opportunities. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child is categoric on the need to advance the child’s right to education. Since 1980 Zimbabwe’s education curriculum system has undergone an extensive metamorphosis. These reforms have affected the enjoyment of human rights. It is from this premise that this qualitative desk research seeks to interrogate the effects of Zimbabwe’s education curriculum reform from 2015 to 2024 on the enjoyment of human rights by learners, educators, parents and guardians. The study was conducted through document analysis and thematic content analysis was employed for data analysis. The findings were that the introduction of the Continuous Assessment Learning Activities and the newly-introduced school-based projects increased the workloads of educators, learners, parents and guardians due to too many learning areas and projects, affecting their social rights. Economic rights have been affected by the high costs of learning materials, raw materials for projects and internet services. It was recommended that adequate financial resources be availed to the relevant ministry so that wifi and learning materials are availed at all schools.