Your Child Learns Differently. Now There's a Programme in Harare Designed for Them

Your child has ways of learning that are not catered for in traditional classrooms. Now there's a programme in Harare built exactly for that. 

Harare International School has just introduced the Pathways Programme, a new, personalized, specialist-taught programme, which gives students the space to learn in an environment customized to their specific needs and learning style. 

What is the Pathways Programme?

The Pathways Programme is an inclusive and responsive set of educational pathways that ensure students with developmental delays (typically 2–3 years or more behind grade-level expectations) can access meaningful, individualized learning within an international school setting. 

The programme recognizes that not all students learn in the same way or at the same pace, and that a one-size-fits-all approach to education does not serve every learner. 

Sibusisiwe Mawoyo, Modified Curriculum Coordinator at Harare International School, commented; “What excites me most about the HIS Pathways Programme is that it reflects a genuine commitment to personalized and inclusive education."

"The programme recognizes that students have different strengths, goals, and ways of learning, and it creates meaningful pathways that allow every learner to experience success.” 

The Search for a Place to Belong

Globally, the conversation around inclusive education and alternative learning pathways is accelerating. UNESCO reports that children with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa complete primary school at rates 10–13 percentage points lower than their peers, with many never enrolling at all. 

Mainstream classrooms promise inclusion on paper, but in practice, learners with ADHD, autism, and other neurodevelopmental differences still face exclusion, mislabelling, and inadequate support. 

Many parents resort to homeschooling, but that comes with its own trade-offs: no access to trained learning support specialists, limited peer interaction, and the weight of being teacher, therapist, and advocate all at once. 

Research into the lived experiences of these parents reveals a cycle of stigma, isolation, and lack of institutional support that leaves families navigating the system alone.

The Zimbabwean Reality for Neurodivergent Children

For parents of neurodivergent children in Zimbabwe, finding the right school can feel impossible. 

Enrolling at a traditional school presents numerous challenges for both parents and their children.

For example, children with autism in Zimbabwe face prejudice not just in schools, but across society, with parents reporting that relatives, employers, and even childcare providers refuse to accommodate their children's needs 

Studies across Zimbabwe and South Africa confirm that current inclusive policies fail to account for how neurodiverse learners actually experience the classroom.

The Path to Pathways

These are the families the Pathways Programme was built for: parents who have been told their child doesn't fit, and students who deserve an education designed around how they learn, not in spite of it.

Harare International School engaged curriculum experts and carried out research to reach a point where it felt it had the right product as demonstrated by the need. 

The fact that the school already had personalized student support systems in place, made it easier to set up a programme like this.

Harare International School Director, Dr. Gregory Moncada, said; "The Pathways Programme reflects what we have always believed at HIS: that a school's quality is not measured only by what it offers the most academically able student, but by what it offers every student."

"For too long, families with children who learn differently have had to choose between the right school and the right support. We believe they should not have to choose."

"This programme is our commitment to making that true, not as a statement of principle, but as a daily reality for every student who walks through our doors."

Find Out More

You can find out more on the Pathways Programme page. Feel free to also fill out the enquiry form so the HIS admissions team can get back to you and schedule an appointment.