Curriculum Development Centre in Zambia: Functions and Inclusive Education

Nov 06, 2025 0

The inclusion of students with special education needs (SEN) continues to be a key issue in the quest for the provision of equitable education for all children. The Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) in Zambia plays a crucial role in facilitating curriculum development for primary and secondary schools.

This article explores the functions of the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) in Zambia, with a focus on its role in promoting inclusive education. It examines curriculum reform efforts, stakeholder involvement, and the challenges and opportunities in providing equitable education for all learners, including those with special education needs (SEN). This article reports on an aspect of a bigger study which employed a mixed-method research design.

Understanding Inclusive Education in Zambia

In Zambia, the three main educational principles according to Educating our Future SEN policy (1996:67) include a call for a continuum of placements for children with SEN, the existence of special schools and the provision of quality education. The above principles as outlined in the UNESCO (2008:3) definition of inclusion implies that successful and meaningful inclusion should be for the benefit of both those with disabilities and those without.

Critics of inclusion continue to argue that the concept is a source of much confusion among scholars and other stakeholders alike. On one hand, other critics believe that inclusion, its goal and intervention models arise from the need to go beyond the physical integration of learners with SEN in regular education to the quality of educational outcomes. On the other hand, scholars like Terzi (2014) is of the view that, for some learners, special education schools is one of the options to meet their needs.

Critics argue that most inclusive practices emphasise social integration to the detriment of the acquisition of content knowledge and skills when the goal of educational programming is not only socialisation but the attainment of meaningful outcomes for all learners. Similarly, Lindsay (2007:370) claims that inclusion should go beyond mainstream but should include meaningful participation in the education process. In addition, Florian and Spratt (2013:121) contend that using the inclusive pedagogy approach entails rejecting the labelling of learners based on ability. They also argue that diversity should be seen as a strength and not as a problem.

What Figure 1 depicts is that, if the implementers of inclusive education are still confused as highlighted by Hornby (2011) then diversity will be seen as a problem and not a strength. Confused implementers of inclusive education would still focus on students with disabilities and how to reasonably accommodate them in inclusive education settings (Hornby 2011). Instead, focus should be on all students with and without disabilities.

Curriculum Reform and Inclusion

Curriculum reform to facilitate the inclusion of learners with SEN and other marginalised groups of learners generally accompanies many inclusive policy documents. In the Zambian case, item ‘vi’ (6) in ‘Educating our Future’ includes a call to address the need for curricula change to support learners with SEN. However, how to develop pedagogy and curricula that will be inclusive and beneficial for all learners is easier said than done. The need for curriculum reform is especially challenging because the focus on performance as a marker of success in mainstream education contexts persists.

Wolfe and Hall (2003) have previously argued that inclusion of students with SEN necessarily requires redesigning of curriculum and the provision of appropriate classroom adaptations. A focus on improving the participation of learners with SEN is less appealing as they are considered to be a liability on high-stakes tests reports. Yuen et al. (2019) argue that a common curriculum following the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) should allow for teachers to monitor the progress of all the learners. Hence, Flood and Banks (2021) suggest that UDL should not lose sight of the importance of monitoring learner outcomes. In this process, Mukminin et al. (2019) posit that this access to the curriculum by all learners should include those without SEN.

However, it is worth noting, as Meier and Rossi (2020) argue, that UDL does not imply a ‘one size fits all’ curriculum document but a programme of learning which removes barriers to learning for all learners so that the curriculum becomes an integral part of the framework.

Although in the Zambian case, all curriculum documents after the first education reforms of 1997 have a specific section relating to equity and inclusion of learners with SEN albeit with no details about how to differentiate for exceptionality of learners with disabilities. In our view, education reform calls for a paradigm shift from separate standards, curricular and accountability systems between special education and mainstream education. It is therefore important, as Conn and Hutt (2020) posit, that all stakeholders are committed to the inclusion of all learners in the curriculum renewal and implementation. They argue that beneficence for all should be the goal through a curriculum that affords multiple pathways to learning.

Inclusive Education: Unheard Stories Ep3 - Education and climate crisis in Zambia with Aubrey Moono

Ecological Systems Model and Inclusive Education

At the heart of this study is a focus on the development of children with SEN through the implementation of inclusive education policy in Zambia. This entails using a theoretical framework that can link the realms of philosophy, policy and practice. Bronfenbrenner (1992) believed that learning is a function of social interactions in a system of embedded structures.

In his earliest conceptualisation of the ecological system model, Bronfenbrenner presented four nested environmental levels in which a developing child exists and interacts with others - the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem and the macrosystem (Bronfenbrenner 1979, 1992). The focus on curriculum reform in Zambia entails that the teachers and school administrators in the mesosystem who are at the forefront of curriculum implementation, education standards officers (ESOs) in the exosystem, and policy initiators at the national government level in the macrosystem were targeted as participants and sources of relevant information for this study.

The teachers interacting with learners and parents not only need a full grasp of the policy requirements but must have an inclusive curriculum that translates policy into actionable content and guidelines. It seems teachers, learners, parents, government officials, administrators, etc., do not approach and embrace inclusive education from the same angle.

Ecological systems model applied to implementation of inclusive education policy for children with special education needs in Zambia

It should be noted that in Figure 2, the model does not have concentric circles but has the circles touching each other. This implies that the sub-systems are connected albeit with varying degrees of familiarity. The common centre of inclusive education according to the authors’ point of view is its implementation.

Read also: Economic Solutions in Africa

Research Methodology

To get a better understanding on how inclusive education is offered to learners with SEN, authors of this article employed a mixed-method design. Both qualitative and quantitative methods complemented each other during data collection. Mixed methods helped researchers to gain a more complete picture than a stand-alone quantitative or qualitative study.

Data collection instruments included semi-structured interviews of both individuals and focus groups, observations, questionnaires and photographs. Other relevant data came from government policy documents, curriculum and instruction documents. The study was guided by Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1992) ecological system model in its analysis of findings. As applied to the study, the provision of equal education access to learners with SEN is a function of social interaction in a system of embedded structures.

Purposive sampling was used to select a small group from a larger group with similar characteristics considered to be knowledgeable of, and informative about the phenomenon of interest; in this instance the provision of inclusive education to learners with SEN in Zambia. The study participants came from seven (Lua pula, Lusaka, Muchinga, Western, Southern, Central & Copperbelt) provinces of Zambia. A purposively sampled small group also participated in the quantitative part of this study. The aim was to gather valuable information and to assess the extent of the education reform.

The target population which comprised of teachers, administrators and Education Support Officers was deemed to meet the criteria related to teaching learners with SEN, different provinces, gender, age, post description, responsibilities and duties.

There were seven focus group interviews which were held at seven different sites. Qualitative data through interviews were collected before quantitative data through questioners were collected. Each focus group comprised of three participants members plus the researcher. Each focus group interview took about 1h 30 min. Interviews took place at seven research sites (schools) and were conducted in English. This semi-structured interview focused on the six questions of the interview schedule.

A purposive sample of 150 SEN teachers and 50 pre-service SEN teachers was anticipated. In four provinces, the questionnaires were delivered to the respondents by a proxy. All respondents who received the questionnaire had to complete and return back the consent forms prior data collection through both interviews and questionnaires. In two cases, the respondents were given the option to return the completed questionnaires in a self-addressed envelope provided by the researchers using a courier service.

Zambia policy document on curriculum reform was downloaded from the Internet. In analysing document, special attention was given to units of meaning and set of categories. Researchers made notes from available documents. Researchers ensured authenticity by being open minded and referring to credible Zambian government documents. Policy documents were analysed to determine whether issues of curriculum reform were taken into high esteem by the Government of Zambia.

Data Analysis

LeCompte (2000:146) asserts that analysis required turning data into results. As a result, research results cannot be accurate or reliable if pieces of data are incomplete or biased. Kothari (2004:122) suggests that data, after collection, be processed and analysed in accordance with the outline laid down for the very purpose of the research plan.

Interview notes and questionnaires produced a large quantity of data that needed to be summarised and interpreted. Common threads, themes and, patterns were identified. Thematic data analysis for qualitative data was employed. In light of this idea, the researcher planned to be wholly immersed in the data so as to be familiar with the information or data and proceeded to systematically synthesise, organise, analyse, transcribe, segment and code data, eventually findings were then be presented. All 150 questionnaires for SEN teachers and 50 questionnaires for pre-service SEN teachers were received.

Soon as data were collected, and while it was still fresh in the minds of researchers, the information was summarised and detailed notes were captured. Information for those notes included among other things time and date details, common themes or patterns, and any other unique observations. Researchers organised the data into different types such as, those being the observation notes, questionnaires and documents and/or artefacts. Questionnaires were also grouped according to who had completed them.

This step also involved reading and re-reading the material (data) in its entirety, making notes of thoughts that sprang to mind and writing summaries of each transcript or piece of data that had been analysed. McMillan (2012:297) refers to this type of data as ‘etic data’ as they are representations of the researcher, whereas ‘emic data’ contain information provided by the participants in their own words.

The objective with this step was to condense all of the information to key themes and topics that would provide some answers to the research question.

Ethical Considerations

The researchers adhered to research ethics requirements. During the interactions with participants, for instance, their rights, anonymity and confidentiality were protected. Participants names and the specific sites they are attached to are not directly mentioned in the study. This was to further guarantee the principle of anonymity and confidentiality. Codes in qualitative data analysis were also used.

Nowhere in the research was mention made of participants’ real names and the sites they worked at. During the open discussions, the purpose of the study was thoroughly discussed with the participants and they were informed of their rights to terminate or withdraw from the study, if they so wished during the process of data collection. The participants voluntarily accepted the participation by signing declaration forms that guaranteed the confidentiality and anonymity.

Teacher Involvement in Curriculum Development

In Zambia, curriculum development for primary and secondary schools is done centrally. The Curriculum Development Centre (CDC), the institution placed with the responsibility of facilitating curriculum development, claims that the Zambian school curriculum is developed through a consultative and participatory approach through course and subject panels where teachers and other stakeholders are represented. However, there has been no empirical evidence to suggest the roles that teachers, who are the major implementers of the same curricular, are required to play in the development process.

A study sought to establish perceptions of secondary school teachers on their role in the curriculum development process in Zambia. The concurrent embedded design of the mixed methods approach was employed with the qualitative approach dominating the study while the quantitative was used to add detail. Data from secondary school teachers was collected using questionnaires while interview guides were used for Head teachers. Raw data collected from interviews and questionnaires was analyzed using themes and descriptive statistics and then arranged into significant patterns so as to easily interpret and understand the essence of the data.

The findings of the study clearly suggested that the majority of secondary school teachers in Lusaka were willing to participate in the curriculum development process, especially in situational analysis, in the formulation of educational objectives, in setting up the curriculum project, and in the writing of curriculum materials such as textbooks. From the study it was concluded that teachers were aware of some of the roles that they could play in the curriculum development but were not adequately involved in the development process.