By Our Correspondent
KARIBA, Zimbabwe: The curtain came down yesterday on the National Association of Primary Heads (NAPH) 2026 Conference, culminating not merely in a professional development forum, but in a resounding declaration of ideological partnership and political commitment.
As the final gavel fell on the shores of Lake Kariba, the central message echoing through the halls was unmistakable: the Chitepo School of Ideology views NAPH and the National Association of Secondary Heads (NASH) as indispensable strategic partners in nation-building, and therefore, they must be protected, strengthened, and left undisturbed to execute their sacred mandate.
The conference, held under the theme “Our Heritage, Our Curriculum, Our Future,” was elevated by a compelling keynote address from Dr. Besearch Beloved Matseketsa of the Chitepo School of Ideology, whose words resonated with the force of a national clarion call.
His message was clear: professional associations are not peripheral entities to be fought, but the very backbone of Zimbabwe’s educational and ideological ecosystem.
In a deeply moving moment that bridged the spiritual and the ideological, Dr. Matseketsa paid a profound tribute to the teaching profession by quoting his colleague, Dr. Edson Muresherwa, a Grand Educationist, Counseling Psychologist, and Minister of God’s Word.
“Dr. Muresherwa often shares with me a powerful truth,” Dr. Matseketsa told the attentive audience. “He reminds us that God created man in His own image, as we read in Genesis 1:27. But thereafter, there has been no one who has been able to create a man in his own image, except a teacher.
“The hall fell silent as the weight of the statement settled upon the delegates. It was a powerful affirmation of the sacred and irreplaceable role of the educator.
Dr. Matseketsa then drew a direct line between this truth and the work of the Chitepo School of Ideology.
“Working well with NASH and NAPH therefore amounts to a way by the Chitepo School of Ideology to create, from our children, the type of person we desire in Zimbabwe,” he declared.
It was a masterstroke of ideological articulation, framing the professional associations not as bureaucratic bodies to be eliminated from the education system, but as the essential vehicles through which the nation’s future citizens are shaped.
Dr. Matseketsa’s address was a masterful blend of ideological clarity, historical consciousness, and practical vision.
He positioned the Chitepo School of Ideology not as a distant political institution, but as a committed partner in the transformation of Zimbabwe’s education system.
He urged the The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, together with the Public service commission to recognise the strategic importance of these associations and create an enabling environment for their survival and sustainability,” Dr. Matseketsa declared.
“If NAPH and NASH are stopped today, then it means these heads we won’t see them together at once again. They won’t reconnect easily even at cluster level up to the national level.
“His words were a direct appeal to the Ministry and all stakeholders to refrain from any actions that would undermine these professional bodies.
“Let us strengthen them, baptise their leadership, rejuvenate them, show them what we want, call them and advise them to build strong institutions rather than aim to shut them down,” he urged.
The gravity of his statement was underscored by his stark warning: “The death of NAPH and NASH is the death of ideological orientation. These are the institutions that we are leaning on.
“Beyond defending the associations, Dr. Matseketsa offered a transformative vision for their future. He proposed the establishment of NAPH, NASID, and NASH Educational Innovation and Enterprise Incubation Centres; a bold initiative designed to convert the ideas of teachers, learners, and communities into tangible products, services, and enterprises.
“An incubation centre is a structured institutional platform that identifies promising ideas, supports research and experimentation, provides mentorship, develops prototypes and helps transform ideas into viable products, services and enterprises,” he explained, envisaging hubs for agricultural innovation, educational technology, manufacturing, heritage industries, and renewable energy solutions.
His call for schools to become centres of community economic development was equally profound.
“I challenge school heads to ask: What is our school producing beyond academic certificates?” he posed, urging educators to connect classroom learning with the economic priorities of the nation.The ideological partnership was further cemented by the presence and pledges of high-ranking political figures.
Honourable Murambiwa, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education and Member of Parliament for Zaka West Constituency, alongside the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (who is also the MP for Gokwe Nembudziya Constituency), Professor Torerayi Moyo, addressed the gathered school heads with candour and commitment.
The two leaders acknowledged the immense burdens carried by educators, including salary erosion, resource scarcity, and the heavy administrative load.
They made a solemn pledge to the delegates: when they return to the august House of Parliament, they will not forget the plight of the teachers.
They assured the school heads that the issues raised at the conference would be tabled and fought for at the highest legislative level, ensuring that the welfare of educators becomes a national priority.
This promise, combined with Dr. Matseketsa’s ideological endorsement, sent a powerful message to the school heads: they are not fighting alone.
These political and ideological pledges promised a necessary safety net, to Dr. Edson Muresherwa’s clinical and spiritual diagnosis that had earlier laid bare the raw, human reality of the school heads’ daily struggles.
Dr. Muresherwa masterfully connected the dots between a stressed leadership and a failing system.
He described the school heads as the “walking wounded” and “earthen vessels,” reminding them that they are expected to reflect light through their cracks while managing their own depleted reservoirs.
He challenged the toxic culture of overwork with his now-viral, blistering proverb: “A cat that dreams of becoming a lion must lose its appetite for rats.”It was a metaphor that resonated deeply, urging school heads to abandon the self-destructive habits of micro-management and isolation, and to embrace the courage of a lion.
He introduced the concept of “Recovery Intelligence,” by Jessie Mhaka, arguing that a leader who is constantly drained by the heavy boulders of stress cannot effectively steward the children of tomorrow.
These message in Kariba was seamlessly synergistic. This synergy of the conference was not accidental.
It was the result of a carefully curated programme that saw each speaker build upon the last, all resonating with the conference theme.
The theme, “Our Heritage, Our Curriculum, Our Future,” was earlier masterfully unpacked by Dr. Evershine Ndongwe, whose insightful articulation set the intellectual and spiritual tone for the entire gathering.
Dr. Ndongwe, living up to his name, illuminated the path for the days ahead, ensuring that every subsequent presentation, from Dr. Muresherwa’s psychological insights, to Dr. Matseketsa’s ideological vision, to the political pledges from Hon. Murambiwa and the Minister, found its anchor in the profound connection between Zimbabwe’s heritage, its curriculum, and its destiny.
All this shows a high level of preparedness and planning by the NAPH National Executive, led by the soft spoken president, Mr. Boniface Munyenyiwa who also left an impact to the delegates when in his speech he remarked: “The innocent face of a monkey does not guarantee the safety of bananas.”
The NAPH members arrived in Kariba carrying the invisible weight of their profession.
They left not only with strategies to manage their internal wellness reservoirs but with the assurance that they are not fighting alone.
The Chitepo School of Ideology has declared them strategic partners.
The Parliament has promised to take up their cause. And Dr. Muresherwa has given them the psychological tools to recover.
As Dr. Matseketsa concluded in his address: “Our heritage is our identity. Our curriculum is our instrument of transformation.
Our teachers are the architects of human capital. Our schools are centres of innovation.
Our future is our collective responsibility.” The “lions” of Zimbabwean education have been given the space, the support, and the mandate to roar undisturbed, empowered, and ready to build the nation through heritage, curriculum, and culture.
Credit also goes to Getrude Nyoni, the NAPH chairperson for Masvingo province, his entire executive and chief-whip Mr. Amon Ziki, for organising and hosting a successful national conference, away from home.
This was not only a NAPH conference. It was a stakeholders’ conference also spiced by solidarity messages from sister organisations and supported by the business community.
It shows together, we can go far, if as cats dreaming to be lions, we lose our appetite for rats. I mean as a developing country targeting a middle income status by 2030.
