Zambia Education Sector in the Sixth National Development Plan

EDUCATION &

DEVELOPMENT

THE NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION

FRAMEWORK [III]

AIMS OF THE N.I.F. [III]• TO GUIDE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ZAMBIA’S SIXTH NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

(SNDP) FOR THE PERIOD 2011-2015.

• TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE, VOCATIONAL TRAINING & EARLY EDUCATION (MESVTEE) THAT WILL FACILITATE THE REALIZATION OF THE SNDP GOALS.

• TO DRIVE THE EDUCATION SECTOR’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS).

OPERATIONALISATION• TO GUIDE THE ARTICULATION OF BROADER OBJECTIVES OF THE SNDP INTO

CLEAR ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION.

• TO SERVE AS AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR MONITORING IMPLEMENTATION PERFORMANCE, FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF OUTCOMES AND IMPACT.

• TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR TRACKING RESOURCE UTILISATION

SIGNIFICANT POLICY CHANGE IN SNDP

• MERGING OF THREE MINISTRIES, NAMELY EDUCATION, SCIENCE & VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND EARLY EDUCATION. THIS MERGER WAS AIMED AT:

• (A) HARMONISING THE PLANNING OF EDUCATION DELIVERY.

• (B) EASY TARGETING AND IMPROVED BUDGETING OF EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

• (C) EASY MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTING ALL DONE UNDER ONE UMBRELLA.

MORE POLICY CHANGES SINCE 2011

• A POLICY SHIFT FROM BASIC EDUCATION (GRADES 1-9) AND HIGH SCHOOLS (GRADES 10-12) TO PRIMARY EDUCATION (GRADES 1-7) AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (GRADES 8-12).

• THIS MAY HAVE BEEN PROMPTED BY RESULTS FROM THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT SURVEYS BETWEEN 2003 AND 2008 WHICH SHOW THAT LEARNER PERFORMANCE LEVELS HAVE REMAINED STATIC AT 40% SUGGESTING THAT VERY LITTLE TEACHING AND LEARNING IS GOING ON IN SCHOOLS.

SCHOOL ENROLMENT• MDG 2 (ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION) IS ONE GOAL THAT IS OF GREAT

SIGNIFICANCE TO THE EDUCATION SECTOR.

• ZAMBIA HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARDS THE REALIZATION OF THIS GOAL BY 2015. SHE HAS ALSO MADE SIGNIFICANT STRIDES IN ELIMINATION OF GENDER DISPARITY (MDG 3) IN PRIMARY EDUCATION.

• ENROLMENTS ROSE BY OVER 1,500,000 LEARNERS AT BASIC SCHOOL LEVEL BETWEEN 2002 AND 2010. THE PROPORTION OF FEMALES ENROLLED AT BASIC SCHOOL LEVEL WAS NEARLY 50%.

• IN 2010, THE 2,851 COMMUNITY SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY HAD 546,899 LEARNERS REPRESENTING 18% OF NATIONAL PRIMARY ENROLMENT.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

• THE PROVISION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE, DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION (ECCDE) WHICH CATERS FOR CHILDREN BETWEEN 0-6 YEARS HAS NOT BEEN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. IT WAS IN THE HANDS OF THE MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

• THIS HAS LEFT THE ECCDE SECTOR LARGELY UNDERDEVELOPED AND UNCOORDINATED. IN 2007, ONLY 17.1% OF CHILDREN, MAINLY IN URBAN AREAS HAD ACCESS TO ECCDE.

• THE QUALITY OF SERVICES PROVIDED IN THIS SECTOR STILL REMAIN VERY POOR AND THERE IS NO NATIONAL CURRICULUM TO STANDARDIZE THE LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES.

REFERENCES:

• MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE, VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND EARLY EDUCATION (2011): NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK III: 2011-2015. LUSAKA.

• MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND NATIONAL PLANNING (2011): SIXTH NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN: 2011-2015. LUSAKA