STAKEHOLDERS LAUD NEW DAWN’S FREE EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT

KEY education stakeholders the Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) and the National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) have hailed the milestone achievements by the United Party for National Development (UPND) administration to improve the education sector.
ZANEC executive director George Hamusunga says the New Dawn administration has since assuming office restored sanity in the education sector.
He said in an interview that the education sector had faced divisions based on political affiliations.
He said it was heartwarming to note how the Government had lived up to expectations on its political campaign promises to the Zambians.
“The major scores being the recruitment of more teachers, the free education policy and how President Hakainde Hichilema directed recovered funds to provide student scholarships,” Mr Hichilema directed recovered funds to provide student scholarships,” Mr Hamusunga said.
Mr Hamusunga said the introduction of free education had resulted in an increase in enrollment of about 16 per cent, which had not happened before.
He said from 2002 to 2010 only around two per cent of children were enrolled per year, but in the first year of UPND according to ZANEC’s survey in 400 schools, there was an increase in enrollment of around 16 percent.
“The teacher recruitment of 30,496 teachers, which has never happened, has bridged the gap by 50 per cent. We only need around 60, 000 teachers to meet the current demand. This has been done in year, meaning if the Government continues on this path, then the target will be achieved and we will not have a shortage of teachers in our schools, this is commendable,” he said.
The ZANEC survey also indicates that about 70 per cent of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is targeting to improve the quality of education as well as infrastructure, procuring of desks, provision of water and sanitation facilities also funding skills development.
And National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) has said under the UPND rule, the education sector has seen sanity in the education sector, where some teachers were identified as political tools.
“Before August last year, we saw a lot of teachers getting into politics, we saw a lot of politicking in the teaching fraternity, where a lot of political activities, where actually associated with our teachers which was in a way diluting the professionalism of teachers. We saw a lot of union leaders becoming partisan, which also compromised the trade unions,” he said.