Chido Sango, a girl-child empowerment advocate, warned that discouraging boys from expressing vulnerability may lead them to suppress their emotions. 

She said teaching girls to be submissive could leave them feeling unqualified for leadership roles. She described the messaging in the textbook as a form of “indoctrination” that reinforces limiting gender stereotypes. Said Sango:

When children internalise these roles, boys may suppress empathy, while girls may avoid leadership. I have always told my daughter that she is not docile. 

She may get it wrong in the exam because of what she was taught in class, but at least I would have groomed her to be the woman she has to be, assertive. This isn’t education, its indoctrination.

A teacher at a Government primary in Sakubva, who requested anonymity, said:

I am also not in agreement with some of the characteristics stated in that section. We teach it because that is what is in the approved syllabus.

However, as an individual, before I teach that section, I always make sure I emphasise to the learners that they are all equal and the girl child can be as competitive as the boy child. With the correct mentality, they can even do better.

Manicaland Provincial Education Director Richard Gabaza said that the textbook in question was developed under the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC), which is now being phased out in favour of the new Heritage-Based Curriculum. He said:

The curriculum is still being implemented now, and they are still writing the textbooks.

We expect some changes in line with the tenets of the Heritage-Based Curriculum.

More: The Manica Post