Zimbabwe Engages Australian Experts for Early Learning Assessment Up-Scaling

Harare — Zimbabwe is engaging the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to strengthen early learning assessments, improve education data analysis and align the country’s reporting systems with international benchmarks under Sustainable Development Goal 4.

The engagement focuses on how ACER can support the Zimbabwe Early Learning Assessment (ZELA) over the next six months while complementing work already being undertaken by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s existing development partners, including Education Development Trust (EDT) and Child Protection Society (CPS).

ACER delegates, led by Colin Watson, held a series of consultations with Ministry officials and development partners to explore areas of collaboration in educational research, assessment and data-driven policy formulation.

Following initial discussions with Permanent Secretary, Moses Mhike and the Ministry’s directorate at the Ministry’s head office, Director of Primary Education Ophyllia Zava and Director of Learner Welfare Hannah Maisiri held further engagements with the Australian delegation at EDT’s offices.

The discussions centred on integrating ACER’s potential contribution with ongoing programmes involving EDT, CPS and other stakeholders working in educational assessment, while identifying opportunities for broader cooperation in research and assessment over the longer term.

The consultations also examined ways to strengthen Zimbabwe’s compliance with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS) criteria, particularly the requirements for international reporting under Sustainable Development Goal 4.1.1, which concerns learning outcomes.

The Ministry and ACER explored how technical support could help Zimbabwe meet global assessment benchmarks and improve the quality of information used to evaluate learning outcomes.

The visiting delegation subsequently concluded its consultations with Ministry officials during a meeting at the Ministry’s head office boardroom, where discussions continued on the proposed partnership in education research and assessment.

The engagement also provided a platform to showcase local innovation in educational technology, with Ministry computer and software technology specialist and Makumimavi Primary School information and communication technology teacher, Godknows Dembure, presenting the Zimbabwe Automatic Marking and Analysis System (ZAMAS).

ZAMAS is an intelligent digital system designed to analyse educational data to inform policy formulation and guide the development of targeted intervention strategies.

The presentation highlighted the potential role of technology in strengthening the analysis of assessment results and supporting evidence-based decisions within the education sector.

The proposed collaboration comes as Zimbabwe seeks to build on existing assessment initiatives while expanding its capacity to measure learning outcomes, improve international reporting and support education planning through research and reliable data.