Since COVID-19 many families in Zimbabwe and beyond have embraced homeschooling as a serious, life-changing choice. However, it can be a daunting task to get started with homeschooling in Zimbabwe. Here, I shed some light on the pathway from my experience and others.
Zimbabwe Government Primary Correspondence School
The Zimbabwe Government Primary Correspondence School – commonly referred to as just Correspondence school in homeschooling circles – is responsible for regulating homeschooling. It recently started offering pre-school, which it never used to before, and also covers education from Grade 1 to 7.
Its offices are in Mt. Pleasant, Harare, at the ZIMSEC complex. Registration is easy-peasy. There is no interview for the child; you just write an application letter. You pay a registration fee of $10 and $80 tuition fees for the term. I suppose if your child is transferring from a different institution bringing a transfer letter and report cards would be handy, but that’s just my opinion.
We used this school when we started with homeschooling in Zimbabwe. A close look at the word ‘correspondence‘ should be enough to give a hint, right? There is exchange of learning material between the learner and the teacher at the school. The parent acts as a facilitator/supervisor at home, where the learning happens. In some cases, a small group of learners can be supervised by one teacher.
So how does one homeschool with this board?
You are provided with all resources and stationery for learning, including books/readers which you borrow from the school library. Each subject comes with 6 printed sets per term, with each set covering 2 weeks’ learning material. You send in sets 1, 3 and 5 for assessment by a teacher at the school, who provides evaluation and feedback; and also offers support and guidance to the parent/supervisor. But that doesn’t mean the parent doesn’t do anything in-between. He or she supervises all the work, including adding comments and encouragements when marking! Let me hasten to say it’s not only the parent who teaches, some families choose to hire a private tutor.
Students wrap up the term with final exams—scheduled in advance and delivered either in person or straight to your inbox. Cheating’s a no-go, supervisors should keep their eyes to themselves—no hint-dropping allowed!
You can homeschool up to Grade 7 using this curriculum as I mentioned earlier. With ZIMSEC changing to a heritage-based curriculum, students now do a project aimed at solving problems around them. For example, where sporting equipment is lacking they could make a ball or skipping rope in the lower grades. For the Grade 7 examination they start preparing their projects for examination in Grade 6. The students register at Correspondence school as their examination centre.
I was so excited to hear some subjects have been combined! When we used the curriculum in 2022 it was overwhelming; we had to go through about 8 different subjects🤯. They now focus on only 6 subjects: Social Science (Family, Religion and Moral Education + Heritage studies), P.E. (Physical Education + Visual and Performing Arts) , Science & Technology (Agriculture, Science + ICT), Maths, English Language and Shona/Ndebele.
It’s not all work and no play at this school. There is a calendar of events, with the highlight being a Fun Day for the homeschooled children to meet. They also organize a Prize-giving day for awards.
Other online homeschooling options
Yes, there are online options that you can follow to get started with homeschooling in Zimbabwe. Either faith-based or secular. A good internet connection makes this option easier; and a printer, although not an absolute requirement.
Learning has become global, with so many e-school platforms available to register with. Examples I will discuss are Griggs and ACE. These options have a little more flexibility than the Correspondence school, which is more of a school at home. Of course, finances will play an important part here because these cost more than Correspondence school.
Griggs International Academy
Griggs International Academy caters for kindergarten to Grade 12 (Advanced Level). They have a website that has easy-to-follow steps for enrolment, and videos to help with navigation of their portal. You’ll discuss mutual expectations with your assigned facilitator at some point early on. The school will contact you for payment/tuition, which ranges from at least $475 for kindergarten to around $1,600+ for a year; which consists of 2 semesters. Payment plans are available for your pocket’s convenience.
All students do Bible, Handwriting, Health and Science, Language Arts, Mathematics and Social Studies. They encourage students to add on some practicals like Music to round out a holistic education.
You get a checklist of each subject’s homework/assignments upfront, helping you to keep up with subject content and marks. Some of the assignments are graded by an assessor/teacher from the institute. You scan and send via email completed work for grading. In addition to this, Science and Maths usually come with tests for assessment.
The maximum time allowed to complete a level is 18 months, although some students can complete two levels in the same time time period. But then this is not a competition, yes?
With this curriculum you can choose how you want to structure the learning: either completing one subject per set time e.g. finishing with Language Arts before moving to Science or doing all subjects at once. You do what works for your child. You submit everything at once; allowing for an efficient process for the markers/teacher at the school to cater for all their global students despite time differences.
Accelerated Christian Education
Accelerated Christian Education is another option that one family I know in Zimbabwe is using for their preschool child. Enrolling is not complex either, all the information and steps are on their website, which is dependent upon your location; this one is nearest to me. South Africa is the nearest place that one can get material from, North America is too far.
You have an option to get material in color or black-and white. Preschool material in full color, including notes for the tutor, is $500USD for the whole year. You can buy the materials in whatever way works best for you—whether it’s for the whole term, the full year, or just part of it. If you want black and white material you can go onto the website and borrow for just $20.
These options are just pointers for anyone wishing to start homeschooling in Zimbabwe, but the list is not exhaustive. In my next post I will share some free online curricula or resources that one can use.
