ZANEC

Category: Press Statement

  • ZANEC Press Statement on the Guidance for Reopening of Schools amidst the COVID 19 Pandemic

    ZANEC Press Statement on the Guidance for Reopening of Schools amidst the COVID 19 Pandemic

    The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is concerned with the guidance on the continued closure of early childhood education centers, and primary and secondary schools until 16th August 2021. Worse still, although the directive regarding the continued closure of colleges and universities was premised on continued learning through remote platforms, there was no mention of how early learning centers, primary schools and secondary schools will benefit from continuity of learning at home.

    It is important to note that the burden and future cost of keeping our learners out of school without any form of continuity of learning at home is huge. Current research evidence shows that learners whose education has been disrupted by the COVID 19 will never get those valuable months back and will remain disadvantaged compared to both previous and later generations. This also means that the current learning loss will lead to more future deaths than the COVID 19 pandemic through a generation of doctors and health workers who had a bad foundation. The only difference being that these deaths will happen in future. This is not to mention the huge economic loss and loss in future incomes of our current learners who will drop out of school as a result of loss of interest in school due to the long closure.

    What we are saying is that the continued closure of schools should have been accompanied by a robust investment in remote learning modes aimed at providing remote learning at home involving multi-platform programs that combine online lessons, television, radio and paper based materials. More important also, such measures require explicit strategies for reaching disadvantaged households including children with disabilities and learners in rural areas. To this effect, we expected government to take a decisive action on recapitalizing the Education Broadcasting Services (EBS) and granting it a licence to air radio education programmes countrywide as a short term measure and start planning to air television education programmes countrywide as a long term measure.

    It is also important to note that the COVID 19 pandemic will not go away soon as many variants will continue to emerge and ravage our Country. Therefore, we need to continue adapting our strategies to ensure continuity of learning amidst the COVID 19 pandemic. Specifically, the likely continued resurgence of COVID 19 cases requires that government plans for blended education provision where some schools in low risk localities such as rural areas can remain open, while those in high risk localities like urban areas can close and revert to remote learning as they go in temporary lock-downs because of the spiking COVID-19 cases. This will help ensure continuity of learning for all learners regardless of the COVID-19 situation.

    In conclusion, the only justification for keeping our schools closed now is that we have not funded our schools enough to make them resilient to the current wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. We believe that given adequate financial investment in the health and safety of our learners and teachers in schools, continuity of learning can be assured even amidst the current pandemic. We therefore call upon government through the Ministry of Finance to adequately resource our schools so that they can embrace blended learning modes as the cost of keeping our schools closed far outweigh the health risk of having our teachers and learners in school amidst the COVID 19 pandemic.

    For/ZANEC

    Henry Kabwe

    Board Chairperson

  • ZANEC Press Statement on the closure of schools for 21 days

    ZANEC Press Statement on the closure of schools for 21 days

    Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) respects the decision of government to close schools on account of the increasing number of cases of COVID 19.  The decision is important as it is in line with the public health recommendations from our health experts. This decision notwithstanding, it is important for government to ensure that the closure of schools should not mark the end to learning for our pupils. We cannot guarantee that the situation will improve and schools will be ready to reopen in the next three weeks. Therefore, there is need to consider these important actions.

    1. The Ministry of General Education (MoGE) must now focus its attention on providing continuity of learning at home for all our children by scaling up investment in providing remote learning through radio, TV and online platforms.
    2. The Ministry of General Education must start preparing for the re-opening of examination classes now so that in the event that the cases of COVID 19 continue increasing for the next one month, learners in examination classes can be given the first priority to go back to school. The Ministry can leverage on its past experience in running examination classes amidst COVID 19 to reduce the loss of learning time among our 2021 examination candidates. Learners in examination classes cannot afford to lose more time this year, having closed for 6 months in 2020.
    3. Zambia is among many countries globally that have recorded a low reach in remote learning during the COVID 19 pandemic. Therefore, ZANEC would like to reiterate its call for government to recapitalize the Education Broadcasting Services (EBS). Strengthening the capacity of EBS remains the country’s only viable solution to the provision of radio lessons country wide at low cost. We are also calling for the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to consider approving the application by EBS to start airing education programmes countrywide.
    4. We also expect teachers to continue providing support to our learners to ensure that they benefit from remote learning including developing and sharing physical learning packs to enable continuity of learning for children at home. Therefore, the Ministry must support the preparation of learning packs to be distributed to all learners in the event that the COVID 19 situation does not improve in the next one Month.
    5. Lastly, ZANEC welcomes the call for boarding schools that have not recorded any COVID 19 to remain open during this period. As reported yesterday by Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health during the COVID 19 updates, we have confidence in our multi-sectoral team that is supporting the Ministry of General Education in keeping our learners in schools safe and health. We are therefore hopeful that they will continue supporting the boarding schools in tightening the COVID 19 prevention and mitigation measures.

    For/ZANEC

     

     

    George Hamusunga

    Executive Director

  • ZANEC Press Statement on the Commemoration of the International Day of the African Child

    ZANEC Press Statement on the Commemoration of the International Day of the African Child

    Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is pleased to join the rest of the world in commemorating the Day of the African Child which falls today, the 16th of June, 2020. This day was instituted in memory of the 16th June 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa. At that time, students marched in protest against the poor quality of education they received and demanded to be taught in their languages. Therefore this day serves to commemorate these children and the brave action they took in defense of their right to education. The Day of the African Child thus celebrates the children of Africa and calls for serious introspection and commitment towards addressing the numerous challenges facing children across the continent.

    The theme for this year is “30 years after the adoption of the Charter: accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2040 for an Africa fit for children”. Indeed there is need to reflect on the gains that have been made and the challenges faced since the adoption of the Agenda 2040. The main objective of the Agenda 2040: is to have an Africa fit for children” and restore the dignity of the African child through assessing the achievements and challenges faced towards the effective implementation of the African Children’s Charter.  Section 6 of the African Charter continental framework for advancing children’s rights and aspiration states that every child must benefit fully from quality education. It is important that every child has access to quality education in Africa, including Zambia which is a signatory to the African Charter on the Rights of the Child.  Education is a fundamental human right that should be accessible by every child regardless of the gender, color, tribe, race and ability.

    It is very sad that in this era of COVID 19, access to quality education by all children has worsened.  The number of out of school children has also increased due to the long closure of schools in 2020 caused by the COVID 19 pandemic.  A lot more needs to be done to sustain learning in our schools. We once again emphasise that schools should not close prematurely. Instead, it is important to tighten the COVID 19 prevention and mitigation measures in our schools for learning to continue.

    It is ZANEC’s view that access to quality education cannot be achieved if funding to the education sector keeps reducing.   Especially in this era of COVID 19, more resources are needed to build more classes and buy more desks that would allow for social distancing, deploy more teachers to allow for learning in small groups, purchase of prevention materials such as washing soaps, sanitizers, hand washing basins, and masks for vulnerable learners. More important also, we call for more innovative but safer ways to ensure continued learning for our Learners with Special Education Needs who are more affected. The provision of quality education amidst the COVID 19 pandemic is not cheap, delivery of quality education will require increased budgetary allocations to the education sector. Implementing programmes that ensure delivery of quality education for all children is the sure way of breaking the cycles of poverty.

    Finally, ZANEC would like to wish all the African children great success as we commemorate their day today.

    For/ZANEC

    George Hamusunga

    Executive Director

  • Press Statement – ZANEC calls for tightening of COVID 19 Measures in Schools

    Press Statement – ZANEC calls for tightening of COVID 19 Measures in Schools

    The Zambia National Education Coalition is concerned with the surge in the number of cases under the third wave of the COVID 19 pandemic recently announced by the Ministry of Health. The impact of the increasing number of COVID 19 cases, as warned by the Ministry of Health, require urgent action by the Ministry of General Education, Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Finance in ensuring that COVID 19 preventive and mitigation measures are strengthened in schools. Our priority should be to protect the health and safety of our learners and prevent further learning loss.

    As you are aware, Zambia is among countries globally that made a strategic decision to reopen schools amid the COVID 19 pandemic. The decision to re-open schools last year resulted in Zambia being among the countries globally that have averted a learning crisis that majority of countries are now facing. This can be attributed the political will and leadership demonstrated by the Ministries of Health, General Education and Higher Education which have resulted in relatively minimal losses in learning due to the impact of COVID 19, compared to the situation in other Countries.

    This progress notwithstanding, our greatest fear now is that the 3rd wave of the COVID 19 can easily erode our gains if we continue taking the business as usual approach. We need to avoid any further school closure by increasing investment in our schools aimed at making them resilient to the impact of COVID 19. Our schools need to be in the emergency-response mode all the time. Closing of schools should not be an option, given the low reach of our alternative modes of education provision. Zambia has limited options for remote distance learning with lots of challenges. Therefore, schools are our only hope.

    Finally, we agree with the statement made by the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr. Kennedy Malama, yesterday that the Ministry of Health will not rush in closing schools but will instead work with the Ministries responsible to enforce the COVID 19 prevention and mitigation measures. However, enforcing COVID 19 measures in schools requires collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health and the two Ministries of Education to ensure the health and safety of our children. We are also concerned that the Ministry of Finance has so far not prioritized the safety and health of children amidst the COVID 19 Pandemic. Currently, most of our schools have no resources to put adequate measures for the prevention of COVID 19. Therefore, we would like to call upon the Ministry of Finance to immediately release emergency funding to primary schools to enable school managements prepare adequately for the third wave.

     

    George Hamusunga

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • ZANEC Press statement on the 2021 Global Action Week for Education (GAWE)

    ZANEC Press statement on the 2021 Global Action Week for Education (GAWE)

    Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is excited to join the rest of the World in commemorating the Global Action Week for Education (GAWE). GAWE is one of the key advocacy events for the education movement. The Global Action Week presents an opportunity for all stakeholders including government, cooperating partners, civil society organisations and the general public to reflect on the progress that we are making in the provision of quality education for all. The event is also aimed at raising awareness and promoting action towards the attainment of specific targets in the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 in line with the theme.

    The theme for this year’s GAWE is “More and Better Financing for Education”. Indeed, there is a critical need for increased financing to the education sector as the current budget allocations leave much to be desired. The COVID 19 pandemic has also affected the education sector in that learning is no longer taking place the way it used to. For instance, the need for social distancing in schools has led to multiple shifts thereby reducing learning hours. Similarly, the reach for alternative modes of education provision involving radio, television and e-learning has remained low. These changes have also made education even more costly. Unfortunately for Zambia, the share of the education budget has dropped by about 43% in the last six years from 20.3% in 2015 to 11.5% in 2021. The reduction in the education budget notwithstanding, the quality of education at all levels has also experienced a steady decline over the last decade. It is for this reason that we would like to call upon government to consider increasing the 2022 education budget from the current 11.5% to at least 20% in line with the commitments the country has made through the SADC and Cairo Protocols on Education.

    Additionally, because of the COVD 19 Pandemic, there are still around 260 million out-of-school children in the world. In Zambia alone there over 800, 000 out of school children. It is estimated that to reach SDG 4, and bring the 1 billion into a quality and inclusive education system, annual investments in education need to double from $1. 2 to $3 trillion. Many governments still don’t reach the international benchmark of 20% budget share for education which is a necessary step to achieve SDG 4.

    In line with the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) theme, we therefore call upon the government and all stakeholders to:

    1. Increase state funding for education to at least 20% of public expenditure.
    2. Increase the tax base in order to increase resources, working towards a minimum tax-to-GDP ratio of 20%.
    3. Engage relevant agencies for urgent debt cancellation, while at the same time reducing borrowing to only critical areas;
    4. Ensure inclusive education systems through equitable financing and programmes that prioritises the most marginalised.
    5. Provide free quality education for all and improve the quality of teaching through adequate recruitment, remuneration and continued teacher training.
    6. Allowed space for individuals and civil society to speak up and listen and respond to the voices of those affected.

    We also call upon developed countries to continue working towards the goal of 0.7% overseas aid and ensure that 20% of this is ring-fenced to be spent on education. Developed countries must also increase their contributions to the global partnership for education because education cannot wait.

    ZANEC also takes this opportunity to applaud the Ministries of General and Higher Education for ensuring that learning continues amidst COVID 19 Pandemic as education is key to the wellbeing of individuals as well as national development. Therefore, it is important that all stakeholders collaborate by working with the two ministries to ensure that learning continues whilst at the same time observing COVID 19 prevention measures so that no one is left behind. We are also encouraging local companies and corporations to come in and contribute towards the domestic finance base to the education and skills sector.

    Let us remember that education is the best equalizer and adequately financing it will lead to accelerated development and an equal society. We wish everyone God’s blessing as we commemorate the 2021 GAWE.

     

    George Hamusunga

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • ZANEC PRESS STATEMENT ON THE REPORTED CASE OF BULLING AT ST. PAUL’S SECONDARY SCHOOL

    ZANEC PRESS STATEMENT ON THE REPORTED CASE OF BULLING AT ST. PAUL’S SECONDARY SCHOOL

    ZANEC is saddened by the social media reports on the incident that happened at St. Paul’s Secondary School in Kabwe at which a 13 year old pupil was brutally beaten by known pupils at the same school.  ZANEC would like to condemn this behavior by the learners who are responsible for this heinous act. As a human rights organization working in the education sector, we believe in the importance of child protection policies in our schools. It is the responsibility of all school managements to ensure that they implement child protection policies that promote the safety of children under their care.

    It is therefore disheartening to learn that management at St Paul’s Secondary School have been slow in addressing issues of bulling at their school. It is for this reason that ZANEC would like to call upon the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of General Education to immediately intervene by way of providing leadership to the school in addressing the reported issue of bulling in order to secure the rights of all learners and avert the loss of life at the school.

    Bulling, which is a school based form of gender based violence, must not be tolerated by either school managements or learners themselves. It is for this reason that ZANEC has been calling for the formulation of a legal framework which will help operationalize the National Child Protection Policy. ZANEC believes that such a legal framework will go a long way in rooting out bulling in schools which threatens the safety and psychosocial well-being of our leaners.

    For/ZANEC

    George Hamusunga

  • ZANEC Press Statement on the Teacher Who Gassed Pupils in Mushindamo District

    ZANEC Press Statement on the Teacher Who Gassed Pupils in Mushindamo District

    Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is saddened by the gassing incident that happened at a Girls’ Technical School in Mushindamo District in North-western Province on Saturday 27th February 2021.  As a Coalition, we condemn this act in the strongest terms and call for the matter to be fully investigated and all measures necessary for learner protection to be put in place or reinforced.

    Safety and Security of learners in schools must always be assured and should not be compromised. lt is important to note that Zambia has endorsed the Safe School Declaration which is an inter-governmental political agreement that outlines a set of commitments to strengthen the protection of education from attack and restrict use of schools and universities for military purposes. Therefore, pupils should have adequate safety and security when they are at school. It is important to ensure that the school environments are safe for the learners and teachers as well.

    Furthermore, the Coalition calls for the investigative wings of government to fully investigate the matter and ensure the perpetrator/s of the reported gassing are brought to book. We call on the Teaching Council of Zambia to take interest in ensuring that the rights of the accused Teacher are protected till proven guilty. This is a timely reminder for the Commission and Ministry of General Education to ensure our schools have the necessary learner protection and safeguarding measures.

    Finally, it is ZANEC’s hope that management at the school will provide counseling services to all the affected learners in order to enable them to recover from the trauma and continue with normal life and learning. We also wish the six learners who have been hospitalized a quick recovery.

    For/ZANEC

    George Hamusunga

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • ZANEC Press Statement on the Grade 12 Examination Results for 2020

    ZANEC Press Statement on the Grade 12 Examination Results for 2020

    The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) has taken note of the announcement that was made on 26th February 2021 by the Minister of General Education Honorable Dr. Dennis Wanchinga MP on the release of the 2020 Grade 12 Examination Results.

    After a thorough analysis of the Grade 12 results, the most disheartening finding was that only 145 Learners with Special Education Needs (children with disability) managed to register for the examinations, out of which 142 managed to sit for the examinations nationwide. Out of these, only 80 got school certificates, 55 got General Certificates, while 7 failed completely. To think that a whole country which   recorded 2,729 Learners with Special Education Needs in 2018, who were supposed to have completed in 2020 only saw 142 write exams is alarming for the country. It begs the question: what happened to the other 1587 learners between 2018 and 2020? This is worrisome because it shows that disabled children are dropping out of school in large numbers, which defeats the whole ideal of a national development agenda to “leave no one behind”. We call upon government to take keen interest in this retrogressive trend and provide more resources and incentives to promote inclusion and equity in our schools.

    ZANEC has noted with sadness that the reduction in the pass rate of candidates who obtained School Certificates in 2020 estimated at 63.93% compared to 65.32% in 2019.  Furthermore, the least performance in 2020 examinations was in Science which recorded a mean score of 24.19%. Despite the country’s emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the low performance in science has been a common trend. To this effect, there is need to invest more in Science related education inputs including the recruitment of more teachers STEM subjects, procurement of teaching and learning materials as well as providing science laboratory equipment.

    We are however pleased that the performance of examination candidates in practical subjects has remained high at 64.22%, for subjects such as Design and Technology, Fashion and Fabrics, Food and Nutrition, Home Management, Musical Arts Education and Physical Education. This shows that the vocational career path is also very viable and of great interest to our learners. This is very important especially as we seek to provide opportunities for both white collar jobs and self-employment.

    It is also saddening to see that the absenteeism rate for 2020 Grade 12 Examination candidates remained the same from 2019 at 1.95%. ZANEC is worried that the school system is now recording more boys absent from exams at 2.09% compared to 1.80% girls. This issue needs to be addressed by identifying and addressing bottlenecks that are leading to this growing trend. Our interest is to see an equal gender parity rate that will provide equal education opportunities for both the girls and boys.

    The Coalition takes this opportunity to once again applaud and commend the Ministry of General Education (MoGE) for sustaining learning for examination classes in 2020 amidst the COVID 19 pandemic.  The Ministry showed all of us how much education means to our country even during the COVID 19 pandemic.  It is ZANEC’s hope that learning will continue to be sustained.

    Finally, we commend the Ministry of General Education and the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) for having reduced examination malpractices from 179 cases in 2019 to 11 cases in 2020.

    For/ZANEC

     

    George Hamusunga

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • ZANEC Press Statement on the Grade 7 and 9 Internal Examination Results for 2020

    ZANEC Press Statement on the Grade 7 and 9 Internal Examination Results for 2020

    The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is happy that the Grades 7 and 9 examination results are out as announced by the Minister of General Education Honourable Dr. Dennis Wanchinga MP in a joint statement on the release of the 2020 Internal Examination Results.

    The Ministry of General Education (MoGE) should also be commended for sustaining learning for examination classes in 2020 amidst the COVID 19 pandemic.  The Ministry showed all of us how much education means to our country even during the COVID 19 pandemic. We are aware of the education crisis that is looming in some neighboring countries that decided to keep their schools closed after recording COVID 19 cases. The statistics also show that there was an improvement in the number of Grade 9 candidates that passed the examinations in 2020, which is good. For instance, we are glad that 53.09% of the Grade 9 candidates that sat for the examinations passed, representing an increase of 7 percentage points in performance when compared to the pass rate of 46.14 percent recorded in the 2019 examination.

    We are also aware that because of the current Automatic Progression Policy, the 2020 Grade 7 national progression rate was pegged at 100 percent as was the case in 2019. This means that all the 403, 445 candidates who sat the 2020 Grade 7 Composite Examination will progress to grade 8.  However, although ZANEC’s interest is to have all children of school going age enrolled in our schools, the Automatic Progression Policy in current form needs to be re-examined and changed. For instance, the December 2018 report by OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment showed that only 5% of our Grade 7 learners demonstrate minimum proficiency in literacy. This means that by having the Automatic Progression Policy, we are allowing children in Grade 7 who cannot read and write to progress to Grade 8. ZANEC would like to advise the Ministry of General Education to consider changing this Policy so that such children can either repeat or progress through the vocational career path.

    Finally, we are grateful that the Ministry has given ample time to parents and guardians to prepare for their Grades 8 and 10 children by setting the opening of schools on 1st March 2021. This is important especially that ZANEC is concerned that most parents of late have neglected their obligation to pay school fees, thereby making the running of schools amidst the COVID 19 pandemic very difficult by school managements.

    For/ZANEC

    George Hamusunga

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • ZANEC PRESS STATEMENT ON THE DECISION BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA (UNZA) MANAGEMENT TO EXPEL SEVEN STUDENTS

    ZANEC PRESS STATEMENT ON THE DECISION BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA (UNZA) MANAGEMENT TO EXPEL SEVEN STUDENTS

    The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is saddened by the decision taken by the University of Zambia (UNZA) Management to expel seven students believed to have incited their colleagues to riot over the institution’s decision to bar students who had not paid their fees in full from writing examinations on 17th November, 2020.  We, would like to sincerely appeal to UNZA Management to withdraw its harsh decision and give all the students the chance to complete their tertiary education.  As ZANEC we do not support riotous behavior by students. Instead, we support academic freedoms that are anchored on mutual respect and dialogue between students and university management. We are however, concerned that UNZA management is averse to dialogue and usually prefers taking punitive measures against students even on matters that can be resolved around the table.   Expelling students should always be the last resort and not the primary punishment for our students.

    The action by UNZA is against our belief of not leaving anyone behind in the delivery of tertiary education as espoused in the 7th National Development Plan. As a research institution endowed with a lot of research knowledge, UNZA knows very well that expelling students is not a remedy to the riotous behavior of students at the institution. As a result of economic impact of the COVID 19, most parents are struggling to raise money to pay fees for their children. It is common knowledge that most employees have lost jobs due to the economic challenges that have come as a result of COVID 19. Therefore, the decision that was made by UNZA Management to stop students from writing exams because they had not paid exam fees in full was very harsh and unfair. We are therefore, requesting UNZA to immediately re-instate the students who were expelled as a way of guaranteeing their academic freedom. ZANEC would also like to re-iterate the call for the Disaster Management Unit to release a bailout package for all University students who have failed to pay their fees as was done to musicians.

    George Hamusunga

    Executive Director