Ndau Festival praised for advancing Heritage Based Curriculum

BY SHARRON MYAMBO

The Ndau Festival of the Arts (NDAFA) has been praised for advancing the Heritage Based Curriculum. The praise came at the 2026 edition of the festival, held on 26 September 2026 at Paiyapo Arts and Heritage Centre in Bangira Village, Chikore, Chipinge, Zimbabwe.

The theme of the festival was “Ndau Creatives Unplugged: Local Artists, Writers, Performers pushing boundaries in Cultural and Economic Empowerment.” The event was graced by the Guest of Honour, the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Honourable Angeline Gata.

Speaking on the sidelines of the occasion, the Deputy Director of Communications and Advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Patrick Zumbo, applauded NDAFA for promoting the Ndau language.

“This [event] demonstrates to us that we must value not only the Ndau language but also our entire cultural heritage. We would like to congratulate the organisers of this initiative, particularly Director Philip Kusasa, for showing that we must continue to treasure our culture and language.

“At the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, we are moving forward with the Heritage-Based Curriculum. The Heritage-Based Curriculum focuses closely on our heritage, indigenous traditions, the Ndau language, and all the diverse ethnic communities along with their distinct cultures and ways of life.

“Regarding schools and Ndau instruction, although teachers who write textbooks and syllabi in Ndau are currently few, we appreciate the Ministry’s commitment to advancing the language. We encourage all educators who are capable of writing in the Ndau language to produce learning materials so that we can have adequate books ranging from ECD all the way to the university level,” he said.

Concurring with the deputy director’s remarks, the Founder and Director of the Ndau Festival of the Arts, Phillip Kusasa, said his organisation exists to preserve culture.

“As a once marginalised group, we almost lost a number of cultural values which of course are very important to our community. Since the introduction of the Heritage-Based Curriculum, we are benefiting so much because the Heritage-Based Curriculum 5.0 also impressed a positive approach to cultural values and traditional knowledge systems.

“So we are saying our project fits very well into our national discourse in terms of development. So we really praise the current Heritage-Based Curriculum because it also empowers the once marginalised groups like the Ndau communities,” he said.