Teaching of Islam in Zambia’s two Senior Secondary School Religious Education Syllabuses of 2013: Stakeholders’ Educational Perspective
Date
2019
Authors
Masaiti, Gift
Tembo, Osward
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia Press
Abstract
Many studies conducted on Religious Education (RE) in Zambia
have repeatedly reported that the two senior secondary school
R.E. syllabuses (2044 and 2046) are exclusively Christian
in content and approach. The studies have also indicated
that Islam and other non-Christian religions have continued
to be marginalised in the two R.E. syllabuses despite many
educationists advocating for a pluralistic and equal coverage of
all the religions in R.E. Further, the studies have revealed many
deficiencies of the Zambian R.E. in meeting the educational
principles as espoused in the national policy document on
education of 1996. However, what seems to be lacking are
the views of various stakeholder on how the teaching of R.E.
particularly the Islamic dimension in both R.E. 2044 and 2046
could be reformed in terms of the content coverage, teaching
methods and the context. In this light, a qualitative sample
of four teachers of R.E. drawn from four selected secondary
schools in Lusaka district, two Muslim sheikhs at Makeni
Islamic Society Trust (MIST) and a Curriculum Specialist at
CDC was purposively and randomly selected. Semi-structured
interviews were used to collect data which were then analysed
qualitatively. The study revealed the need to include a religious
perspective on how Islam responds to current issues on
corruption, gender and HIV and AIDS. The study also revealed
that some Islamic concepts and teachings should be fully
supported by the Quranic quotations and or teachings from the
Hadith in order to improve the Islamic content. Educational
trips, research projects and guest speakers were suggested
as viable ways of teaching the Islamic component in the RE
syllabuses.
Description
Keywords
Teaching , Islam; , Religious Education--Zambia , pluralism