DAYS could be numbered for independent private colleges playing hide-and-seek with government with regards to the implementation of the new curriculum for primary and secondary education is concerned. Many of the country's private colleges are either resisting or finding it difficult to implement the syllabi, with some of them having completely abandoned the local examination body -- the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council -- in favour of Cambridge International Examinations. Officials from independent colleges surveyed by the Financial Gazette recently are of the view that implementing the new curriculum would be costly for their institutions because it requires additional staff to cover the new subjects that are part of the new syllabi. It would also entail that their teaching staff go through re-training while relevant learning material would have to be acquired. But Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister, Paul Mavhima, said government would clampdown on all institutions defying its directives. He outlined what he called two issues characterising independent colleges' terrain. "Firstly, there are some institutions in this sector that are operating without any form of registration and many of these institutions have approached us and pleaded for the formalisation grace period to be extended. "Secondly, there are some registered independent colleges that, for one reason or the other, are not implementing the new curriculum, but recruiting trained teachers. "Now all the institutions choosing to operate without registration risk facing closure, if they do not put their paperwork in order," said Mavhima. Christian College of Southern Africa principal, Tichaona Zinhumwe, said the way the new curriculum was structured requires them to change the way they have been enrolling students. "This poses challenges because we do not have adequate facilities to accommodate these students. Some of the subjects require space and most independent colleges are located in city centres so it will be difficult to