HARARE – The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) today hosted a high-level delegation from the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER), marking a significant milestone in Zimbabwe’s journey to modernise its educational system.
Education Ministry Permanent Secretary Moses Mhike and the Ministry’s directorate attended the meeting, laying the foundation for a long-term partnership focused on advancing educational research and implementing cutting-edge digital assessment technologies.
ACER is a globally recognised leader in evidence-based educational research and technical support for assessments aligned with international standards. Their expertise is regarded as crucial to MoPSE’s ambition to raise the quality and global competitiveness of Zimbabwe’s schools.
A ministry statement following the discussions confirmed that, in the short term, the partnership will strategically focus on scaling up the Zimbabwe Early Learning Assessment (ZELA).
ZELA is Zimbabwe’s foundational tool for assessing young learners’ psychosocial development, literacy, and numeracy skills.
Expanding ZELA is considered essential for monitoring early childhood development and designing timely interventions that support academic achievement.
To facilitate ZELA’s expansion, the Ministry identified specific areas for collaboration. The immediate priority will be securing digital assessment tools—including modern tablets and specialised scanner sheets—to streamline and enhance the testing process.
A key element of the agreement is ACER’s commitment to professional development. The partnership will enable teachers to receive training in advanced data collection methods and robust data analysis.
According to the statement, these efforts ultimately aim to support data-driven management of Zimbabwe’s education system.
This represents a shift toward using accurate, real-time assessment data to inform key decisions on resource allocation, curriculum development, and school performance management.
