Economic gains not trickling down to Zambians, observes ZCEA

Economic gains not trickling down to Zambians, observes ZCEA
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Sun 18 Sep. 2011, 13:53 CAT

THE macroeconomic gains the country has achieved so far will not trickle down to Zambians if the education they receive does not prepare them to seize opportunities, says a child rights activist.

Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA) executive director Judith Mulenga urged whichever political party that will form the next government to prioritise the improvement of the quality of education as a way of meaningfully reducing poverty in the country.

"The macroeconomic gains that Zambia has achieved or is poised to achieve will not trickle down to the many Zambians currently living in poverty if the education they are receiving does not prepare them to seize opportunities that are presented by such economic development," she said.

Mulenga said although the country had made great strides in achieving the Millennium Development Goal on access to primary school, the quality of education left much to be desired as evidenced by many researches done on the issue.

She said the factors that contribute to the provision of quality education were also well known, well documented and publicised.

Mulenga said what needed to be done was for the next government to emphatically and unwaveringly demonstrate political will to genuinely and holistically strive to improve the quality of education in the country.

She said this entailed, among other things, reducing the pupil/teacher ratio, learning materials/pupil ratio, provide humane and adequate school infrastructure and ensure a safe environment for the learners in and outside school.

Mulenga said the government needed to also seriously stem the high attrition rate of teachers by addressing its root causes.

She said continuous recruitment and retention of teachers in the system should also be prioritised.

"Contact hours between the teachers and pupils should be increased. High schools should ideally revert to the system in the first Republic when lessons ended at 15:30 hours. There should not be shortcuts in the provision of quality education," she said.

Mulenga also said implementing the new education Act No 23 of 2011 would ensure that learners' needs take centre stage rather than the current situation when the teachers and parents in that order take centre stage with the learners featuring in the cracks between the two categories of adults.

She said the Ministry of Education should distribute and publicise the new Act to all stakeholders.

Mulenga said currently, most senior provincial or district officials or heads of schools had no copies of the new Act and were ignorant of its provisions and yet them were supposed to be the key implementers of the Act.

She said the ignorance exhibited by some headteachers on the provisions of the Act was alarming.

Mulenga said surprisingly, headteachers argue and were convinced that they had the right to administer corporal punishment when the law prohibits it.

"They believe that corporal punishment and discipline are one and the same when not. How can a nation have education providers who do not respect the law? No wonder this malaise of ignoring and disrespecting the law manifests itself even in the governance of the country! This type of ignorance on the part of education providers also contributes to the low quality of education currently pertaining in the education sector," said Mulenga.