“Schools That Resist Heritage-Based Curriculum Will Be Closed”

Schools that resist implementing the Heritage-Based Curriculum (HBC) will be shut down, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerayi Moyo has warned.

Zimbabwe is due to hold its first public exams under the HBC in 2026. The curriculum puts more emphasis on technical and vocational education, agriculture, ICT, entrepreneurship and innovation alongside traditional academic subjects, to support industrialisation and national development.

Speaking at the National Association of Secondary School Heads (NASH) conference in Victoria Falls, Moyo said that from 2027, all schools in the country must adopt the Heritage-Based Curriculum.

“Whoever decides not to… we will close the school. The curriculum is determined by the ruling government,” Moyo said.

Moyo said that the government is not banning international examination bodies such as Cambridge International Education, but stressed that they cannot replace Zimbabwe’s national curriculum.

“Cambridge is welcome, but it cannot substitute the Heritage-Based Curriculum. Every school operating in Zimbabwe must first comply with the national curriculum,” he said.

Moyo added that every child has a constitutional right to education, so no learner should be sent away from school — especially over unpaid fees.