International Day of Education 24th January 2024

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EDUCATION
ISSUED ON 24th JANUARY, 2024

ZANEC is pleased to join the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day of Education which falls today. This day is important in the education calendar as it provides us with the opportunity to reflect on the importance of education as a human right and its contribution to socio-economic development.

In line with this year’s theme which is “Learning for lasting Peace”, research evidence shows that education can catalyse and buttress peace, especially when there is equitable access for all. Education can also play a vital role in peace building and reconciliation. Education initiatives have a proven potential to help marginalized populations gain access to justice that contributes to peaceful societies. It is important to note that when people are educated, they are able to appreciate the value of peace and avoid conflict. Therefore, learning for lasting peace is a timely theme. Education is also the key to the escalating climatic challenges (natural calamities), persistent inequalities, growing discrimination, racism, xenophobia, hate speech, violence, and conflict on a global scale. Indeed, education emerges as a powerful tool to both address and prevent these challenges in our societies.

Even if we leave in a peaceful Country where there is no conflict, we need to embrace peace education to address the challenges such as the mushrooming of gangs or junkies, crime and various forms of abuses that represent a breach of human rights. Our Government needs to deal with the issue of junkies that are terrorising innocent people in communities by using education as a tool for both development and peace. One way we can prevent more children from becoming junkies is by investing in quality education and training that is accessible for all. Peace education is transformative as it enables learners to gain essential knowledge, values, attitudes, skills and behaviors that promote co-existence and a culture of peace, respect for cultural diversity and non-violence which are key to sustainable development.

ZANEC is therefore pleased that Social justice is one of the principles that underpins our new curriculum, in which human rights is also posited as one of the main crosscutting issues. We are therefore hopeful that the new curriculum which spans from early childhood education to teacher education will lay a firm foundation for a more peaceful, just, and sustainable Zambia.

Furthermore, we urge government and education stakeholders to work towards actualizing the UNESCO recommendations concerning education for international understanding, cooperation and peace designed to guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms. The following are some of the UNESCO recommended principal guidelines for cultivating peace education:
•Recognize that quality education is a public and common good, which should be accessible to all;
•Irrespective of race, colour, descent, gender, age, language, religion, political opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, economic or social condition of birth, or disability and any other grounds, ensure non-discrimination, inclusion and equity, in and through education, as prescribed by international human rights law while empowering learners as rights-holders;
•Promote gender equality in and through education. It is key to the realization of the right to education for all and for the empowerment of women and girls;
•Recognize education and learning as a continuous, lifelong, life-encompassing, holistic, humanistic and transformative process;
•Encourage, empower and support the willingness, and build the capacity, of individuals to engage proactively in solving problems at community, local, national, regional and global levels notably through the ethical and responsible use of current and future technologies;
•Promote intercultural and intergenerational dialogue for cooperation and solidarity and reinforce effective communication to help develop friendly relations between and among peoples, societies and countries.

Finally, ZANEC encourages all citizens to take their children to school with the free education that is there as it gives an opportunity for every child to be in school and safe guard their future for national sustainable development and peace.
For/ZANEC

George Hamusunga
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR