Subject descriptions
Each subject below includes its purpose, learning outcomes, main topics, practical task and assessment approach.
TjiKalanga (Kalanga)
Forms 1–4
Develop your use of TjiKalanga through reading, conversation, listening and writing. You will work with local accounts and everyday situations, then produce longer explanations and creative responses. Language practice connects accuracy with meaning, audience and purpose throughout Forms 1–4.
Learning outcomes
- Interpret spoken and written TjiKalanga in familiar and unfamiliar contexts.
- Write coherent texts using suitable vocabulary, grammar and register.
- Present and discuss ideas while respecting speakers and cultural context.
Main topics
- Listening for meaning and accurate retelling
- Conversation, pronunciation and oral presentation
- Reading comprehension and interpretation
- Vocabulary, grammar and sentence construction
- Register, functional writing and composition
- Oral traditions, creative writing and translation
Practical task
Record an agreed local oral account with permission, prepare a written version and discuss language choices with your teacher.
Assessment
Listening and reading tasks, an oral presentation, functional writing and a revised composition portfolio.
English Language
Forms 1–4
Develop the English you need for study, work and everyday communication. You will read varied texts, discuss their meaning and practise writing for different audiences. Increasingly demanding tasks build control of structure, vocabulary, grammar and evidence across Forms 1–4.
Learning outcomes
- Interpret information and implied meaning in spoken and written texts.
- Write clearly for different purposes and audiences.
- Present a reasoned viewpoint and revise language using feedback.
Main topics
- Listening, note taking and oral instructions
- Discussion, presentation and register
- Reading comprehension and inference
- Vocabulary, grammar and editing
- Functional, descriptive and narrative writing
- Argument, summary writing and examination responses
Practical task
Prepare an English report and short presentation about a local issue, using information you have checked and acknowledged.
Assessment
Comprehension, listening and speaking tasks, edited writing, summaries and timed written responses.
Business Enterprise Skills
Forms 1–4
Study how a practical business idea develops into an organised enterprise. You will investigate customers, compare choices about resources and prepare a business plan. Local enterprises provide the setting for applying finance, marketing and management across Forms 1–4.
Learning outcomes
- Assess a business opportunity using evidence about customers and resources.
- Prepare a simple enterprise plan with realistic costs and operating decisions.
- Explain how finance, people, marketing and operations affect performance.
Main topics
- Enterprise and the business environment
- Business ideas, ownership and start-up
- Planning, objectives and implementation
- Business finance, costs and financial records
- People management and operations
- Customer research, marketing and business growth
Practical task
Develop a small enterprise proposal with customer research, a cost estimate, an operating plan and a presentation.
Assessment
Business case questions, planning exercises, calculations and a documented enterprise project with an oral explanation.
Mathematics
Forms 1–4
Build mathematical fluency through connected work on number, algebra, shape and data. You will use diagrams, symbolic expressions and calculations to solve increasingly demanding problems. Tasks develop both accuracy and the ability to explain your reasoning across Forms 1–4.
Learning outcomes
- Select a suitable mathematical method for a stated problem.
- Carry out calculations and represent relationships accurately.
- Explain a solution and judge whether the result is reasonable.
Main topics
- Number, sets, money and financial calculations
- Algebra, equations, variation and graphs
- Geometry, measures and mensuration
- Trigonometry and spatial reasoning
- Statistics and probability
- Vectors, matrices and transformations
Practical task
Investigate a measurement, budgeting or data problem and present your calculations, assumptions and interpretation.
Assessment
Short exercises, multistep problems, data interpretation and timed written assessments showing full working.
Commerce
Forms 1–4
Examine how goods and services move from producers to customers. You will study businesses and the services supporting trade, using Southern African markets as a practical setting. Cases develop your ability to compare options, interpret records and explain commercial decisions.
Learning outcomes
- Explain how commercial services connect producers and customers.
- Compare business arrangements for a stated trading situation.
- Interpret commercial records and recommend a justified course of action.
Main topics
- Production, exchange and business ownership
- Home and international trade
- Banking, finance and payment systems
- Insurance and commercial risk
- Transport, warehousing and communication
- Marketing, consumer interests and business records
Practical task
Map the route of a familiar product from supplier to customer and explain the services, costs and risks along the route.
Assessment
Commercial case studies, structured questions, record interpretation and a short trading-system investigation.
Principles of Accounting
Forms 1–4
Learn how reliable financial records are prepared and used. You will move from individual transactions to ledgers, reconciliations and financial statements. Practice develops accuracy, clear working and interpretation using trading and service organisations familiar to Southern African learners.
Learning outcomes
- Record transactions through a complete accounting cycle.
- Prepare reconciliations and financial statements from given records.
- Interpret accounting information and explain errors or adjustments.
Main topics
- Source documents and the accounting cycle
- Subsidiary books, ledgers and double entry
- Trial balance, errors and reconciliations
- Adjustments and end-of-period statements
- Accounts for different business organisations
- Ratios, incomplete records and ethical record keeping
Practical task
Prepare a complete set of records for a fictional small business, including source documents, ledgers and final statements.
Assessment
Bookkeeping exercises, reconciliation and adjustment problems, statement preparation and interpretation questions.
Economics
Forms 1–4
Study how people and organisations make choices when resources are limited. You will interpret market behaviour and economic data, then examine national and international issues. Zimbabwean and regional examples help you connect concepts with prices, employment, trade and development.
Learning outcomes
- Use economic concepts to explain choices by households and firms.
- Interpret graphs and data about economic activity.
- Compare likely effects of a market or policy change.
Main topics
- Scarcity, choice and resource allocation
- Demand, supply and price determination
- Production, costs and market structures
- Labour, income and economic participation
- National income, inflation and public economic policy
- International trade and development
Practical task
Investigate changes in the price of a familiar product using a small dataset and explain possible supply and demand influences.
Assessment
Concept checks, diagrams, data-response questions and structured explanations of economic cases.
Computer Science
Forms 1–4
Develop an understanding of computer systems alongside practical problem-solving. You will organise data, design algorithms and test small programs while using applications responsibly. Activities progress from basic digital skills to documented solutions for school, community or business needs.
Learning outcomes
- Explain how computer systems process and communicate data.
- Develop and test a small computational solution.
- Use digital systems responsibly and explain basic security choices.
Main topics
- Computer hardware, software and operating systems
- Data representation and digital applications
- Networks and data communication
- Algorithms, programming and testing
- Databases and information systems
- Cybersecurity, ethics and responsible digital enterprise
Practical task
Create a small program or database for a defined need, test the result and document how a user operates the solution.
Assessment
Written questions, application tasks, algorithm tracing, programming exercises and a tested digital project.

