Education Sector Growing

Victoria Phiri

8 June 2011

EDUCATION is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is a powerful driver of the development of individuals and societies.

The sector is a fundamental building block of human development and is one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty, improving health, gender equality, peace and stability.

This is why the Zambian Government has continued to pay more attention to developing this sector by investing heavily in infrastructure development.

The education sector in Zambia is no doubt poised to regain its past glory following the numerous interventions put in place by Government to up its standard to match those of the rest of the world.

Provision of education is the core business of the Ministry of Education but this has for a long time been viewed as inefficient because of the many hurdles that have befallen this sector.

For the sector to flourish certain prerequisites like having adequate school infrastructure. teacher’s learning materials, proper remuneration of teachers and adequate quality accommodation for them should be met.

Zambia has for a long time been a shining example in terms of gaining high recognition in the education sector which seems to be facing a number of challenges mostly which are surmountable.

Some of the challenges include the shortage of school space resulting in high teacher pupil ratio and drop outs.

Teachers have also had their own share of challenges such as lack of accommodation,recruitment issues and many others but thanks to the political will that the Government has continued to show towards the sector, the situation is steadily reversing for the better.

The Government under President Rupiah Banda has taken drastic interventions that are heavily paying off for the good of the sector.

One of the interventions the Government has taken is the massive construction of school infrastructure countrywide.

The Government is this year expected to spend more than K265 billion on the construction of schools in the country.

These schools which are ear-marked for commissioning later in the year include; Twin Palm Day High which was constructed at an estimated cost of K18 billion.

This school will include twenty modern teachers’ houses and once completed the institution is expected to cater for more than five hundred pupils from the surrounding areas.

Nyumba Yanga has been constructed by Hua-Jiang, a Chinese construction firm at a cost of K18 billion.

Other schools in Lusaka District include Lilayi which has been built at a cost K16.9 billion while Kabanana High School is being erected at a cost of K11billion.

Education Permanent Secretary Andrew Phiri who recently inspected the on-going projects in Lusaka explained that the Government had not built schools in a long time and that this had resulted in shortages of school places.

Mr Phiri who was accompanied by engineers from the Ministry of Education said all the schools would be built in a similar manner regardless of the area.

He was impressed with the workmanship at the said schools stressing the construction of the schools was evidence of the premium that Government had placed on the education sector.

Apart from the construction taking place in Lusaka District, two other schools were being erected in Rufunsa.

Rufunsa Girls Technical High School and Luangwa Day High works will be completed soon.

Mr Phiri notes that the attainment of the Vision 2030 was heavily dependant on the production of graduates that could be competitive on the global market.

Mr Phiri who also took time to address teachers at Feira High School assured them that the exercise would be extended to all the provinces and that all the schools constructed would have at least 20 houses built within the vicinities of the institutions to ease the challenges that teachers faced in terms of accommodation.

He said Government intends to construct one hundred High schools by 2015 and further reduce the teacher pupil ratio.

He explains that the schools would cater for atleast two million pupils once fully operational and that they would reduce on the number of pupils who dropped out of school as a result of shortage of school places.

“Many children have failed to advance in their studies because of lack of school places,” he notes.

With improved school infrastructure, Mr Phiri notes that the quality of education to be delivered will improve and that is why the Government had continued to invest heavily in the education sector.

He says it was the intention of the Government to bring the Ministry of Education closer to the people.

Other places where the Government is constructing schools include in Chisamba, Keembe, Kapiri-Mposhi, Serenje in Central Province, Copperbelt Province as well as North-Western Province.

Luangwa District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) Liberatus Longwa hailed the Government for constructing additional schools in the area as they would supplement the existing educational infrastructure in the district.

Mr Longwa said that although the district performed fairly well last year, there was need to rehabilitate the existing infrastructure and build additional classrooms at the old schools if the standards of education are to advance.

He cited funding,teacher’s accommodation and lack of learning materials as some of the challenges that his office was facing.

“We performed fairly well last year; in terms of exams, we were number four out of the 72 districts in Zambia,” he said.

Mr Longwa implored the permanent secretary to ensure that funds were made available to the district on time.

With such development taking place in the education sector, there is no doubt that it is poised for massive growth which is a plus for Zambia’s efforts to addressing high poverty levels, attaining MDGs as well as reducing illiteracy levels.

President Banda and his Government are on a progressive path that should be supported by every well meaning Zambian for the good of this sector.

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