SITUATED five kilometres from Kazungula town, Kazungula Boarding High School, still under construction, will no doubt add value to the low literacy levels in the district.
The construction of the first ever boarding school in Kazungula has reached an advanced stage with more than 85 percent of the works done.
The school is being constructed under Government’s policy of infrastructure development in the education sector at a cost of more than K34 billion.
In this years’ budget, the Ministry of Education was given the highest allocation. This signifies the sector’s importance to national development.
Most schools in the country, especially those in rural areas, are in a deplorable state and not fit to be called schools. Yearly, during rainy season, a number of schools in rural areas collapse resulting sometimes in deaths and also disruption of the learning process.
This prompted Government to invest in quality infrastructure in the education sector and Kazungula district is one such district that has benefited.
Besides the Kazungula Boarding High School, Government is also constructing Nyawa High School in the district.
Kazungula is a vast district and has had no boarding school from the time it was declared a district.
Kazungula District Commissioner Albert Chifita says Kazungula Boarding High School is a treasured investment by the communities in the area because the district has never had a boarding school in its history.
“The Government is currently constructing two high schools; Kazungula and Nyawa with one in Kazungula town itself. Kazungula Boarding High School is the first of its kind. This is a modern school, which is nearing completion at a cost of K34,671,348,000,” he said.
Mr Chifita says he is hopeful that the school will positively contribute to the standards of education in the district and at the same time increase the literacy levels.
“Kazungula has the lowest literacy rates in the province, hence the need for investment in the education sector. Our children in Kazungula are eager to learn but we do not have high schools and most of the children who can not afford to continue with their education just end up in grade nine,” Mr Chifita said.
Kazungula is vast and requires adequate investment in high schools with at least a high school in every chiefdom. It has five chiefdoms namely, Mukuni, Sekute, Nyawa, Moomba and Musokotwane.
Currently Kazungula has one high school, Mukuni High School in Senior Chief Mukuni’s area.
Mukuni High School, which is more than 80 kilometres from Kazungula town, can not accommodate all the secondary school-going children.
The lack of high schools in the district has contributed to the low literacy rates because not every resident of Kazungula can afford taking their children to boarding schools in other towns.
Kazungula Boarding High School is being constructed by a Chinese firm, Zamchin Construction Company, and covers an area of about two kilometres.
The school is expected to accommodate the first intake of more than 350 girls and boys by January 2012 and construction works are expected to be completed by December this year.
Once completed, Kazungula Boarding will have 20 staff houses, a clinic, tuckshop, conference hall, library, dormitories, laboratories, home economics, administration, kitchen, dinning hall and class room blocks.
Speaking through a foreman, a Mr Zimba, one of the Chinese supervisors, Mr Wu, said the school is one of the modern schools in the country.
“We are just remaining with painting of half of the building we constructed a month ago. Everything else is in place, only 15 percent of the works has not been done,” Mr Wu says.
Indeed, an investment in any sector like education is not a mistake in any way because education is development. It creates choices and opportunities for people, reduces the twin burdens of poverty and diseases, and gives a stronger voice in society.
For nations, education creates a dynamic workforce and well-informed citizens able to compete and co-operate globally, opening doors to economic and social prosperity.
One of the Kazungula residents, Joseph Mukelabai, says the quality of education in Zambia now depends on the amount of money the government and its co-operating partners invest in this sector.
“The investment that has gone in the construction of this modern school will go a long way in uplifting the education standards in this district. We have had no boarding school here and the only high school is kilometres away making it impossible for our children to continue with education,” Mr Mukelabai says.
Kazungula also has 57 basic schools, 44 community schools, one private school and 414 established teachers.
With Government’s commitment to educate all children in Zambia, as seen from the investment in infrastructure and resources in the education sector, Zambia might be on track in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on education for all because all children are worthy of a quality education.
The Millennium Development Goals set a more realistic, but still difficult deadline of 2015 for least developed countries that are still wallowing in abject poverty.
Despite the rise in enrolment rates in grade one to seven due to the free-education policy, challenges such as limited infrastructure and resources still persist.
Inadequate schools is part of the reason why so many pupils had to drop out of school, but with Government’s policies of making education accessible to all and improving the infrastructure, Zambia will continue recording success in education.
Education is key to any kind of development be it human. Without quality education, it will be impossible for any nation to develop and quality education is possible with supporting factors like good infrastructure, motivated staff and other resources needed like books.
So, with the first ever Kazungula Boarding High School under construction, it is expected that the literacy levels will increase in the district.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Community
JUST at the mention of the name Development Aid from People to People (DAPP), what comes to everyone’s mind here in Zambia is the sale of second-hand clothes.
But Stanley Mpubula, 25, considers DAPP as his saviour after the organisation incorporated him in its Children’s Town programme in 1998 and he is a teacher today because of the support he got from the organisation.
Established in 1992, Children’s Town in Chibombo’s Malambanyama village, the centre has seen more than 1,500 vulnerable children graduate from the school and pursue lucrative careers to contribute to the development of the country.
Children’s Town, situated 45 kilometres from Lusaka, facilitated Mr Mpubula’s education from primary to tertiary level.
Mr Mpubula narrated to this author how, in 1998, he found himself at the school run by DAPP.
Born in a family of four, Mr Mpubula recalls that after being enrolled into grade one in 1991 at Kasenga Primary School in Chongwe, he stopped school in grade two because of financial constraints.
During that period all he could do was to look after cattle instead of going to school. To a boy of his age, looking after cattle was easier than helping his parents till the land.
“I started looking after cattle because I did not have anyone to take responsibility of my education.
My father was a polygamist and all of his wives looked up to him for the well- being of their children,” Mr Mpubula recalls.
He recalls that on January 5, 1998, his sister who was married and lived in the Copperbelt had heard of this school and decided to take him there for his education.
Mr Mpubula’s sister never looked at the years that had passed without him not being in class and insisted he goes into grade five despite him being 13 years old at the time.
Mr Mpubula said he faced a lot of challenges at school because he was younger and small in stature as compared to his classmates who were older than him.
Every time he reported in class his classmates jeered at him, and as a newcomer, this made his life difficult.
A few days later, Mr Mpubula sought the audience of the class teacher who he describes as very understanding and he was moved back to grade two.
“I found it very difficult to learn in a class of big pupils. I used to be ill-treated and learning was never enjoyable and I had to ask to be moved to a lower grade. Thank God I was moved by this very understanding teacher,” he recalls.
Because of his passion for education, Mr Mpubula worked hard to emerge first in class every time they had an examination.
“I realised I had nothing as a human being to count on or show my children. So, I had to put my entire mind on education.
“Because of my passion for education, I used to be number one each time we had end of term examinations and when I reached grade five, my teacher recommended that I attempt the grade seven examinations and surprisingly I made it to grade eight,” Mr Mpubula recalls.
Mr Mpubula qualified to grade eight at Kafushi Secondary School in Chibombo where he did his grade eight to 12 and upon completion in 2005, Children’s Town engaged him as an untrained teacher taking up grade six.
A year later, he decided to go to Kitwe Teacher’s Training College and was first sponsored by DAPP but due to huge demands of DAPP’s financial support from the community, Mr Mpubula decided to apply for a government bursary and luckily he was given.
The two-year teaching course has seen Mr Mpubula recruited as a teacher at Ndola’s Northrise Basic School where he has been since early this year.
Going back down memory lane, Mr Mpubula says the importance of school was not clearly explained to him and instead, he looked at school as a waste of time not until he was incorporated by DAPP.
“I think parents should take an active role in children’s education by explaining to their children the importance of going to school. Let your children see the relevance of school and visualise them being prominent entrepreneurs, chief executives of their own company or civil servants,” he says.
The Children’s Town runs a rehabilitation and integration programme for former street children and a community school for orphans and vulnerable children from the surrounding communities.
After being in Zambia for 20 years now, DAPP has made an impact in the lives of many and still pledges its continued support to the education sector.
DAPP Zambia managing director Rene Schultz disclosed that DAPP is in the process of starting a teachers’ training programme focusing on training teachers for rural schools.
Mr Schultz said DAPP will open eight teachers’ training colleges in eight provinces, who will be trained to take up the teaching profession in rural areas with the first one to be opened in 2012.
“For the 20 years we have been in Zambia, I think we are better placed to invest more in education.
Because of this, DAPP will construct eight teachers’ training colleges around the country whose main focus will be the rural populace,” he said.
The Children’s Town is a project offering a home, safe environment and education in all spheres of life to allow the children to transform themselves into self-sustaining and creative citizens. Currently, the Children’s Town has 434 children of which 54 are boarders.
Since 1990 when the organisation was registered, DAPP’s main objective has been poverty alleviation and community empowerment.
Indeed, poverty is a coil that leads to lack of education, low productivity and high child mortality which leads to further poverty and underdevelopment in various communities.
For the past 20 years of its existence in Zambia, DAPP has implemented various projects to work with people in need by providing knowledge, skills and tools that will empower them and their families to overcome the challenges of everyday life, thereby improving their quality of life.
DAPP also supports various communities in Zambia. The projects promote education at all levels through programmes in schools, training the teachers, teaching the peasant farmers and their families, training the workers in the projects and training those around the projects.
DAPP is also working in the fight against HIV and AIDS under the Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) programme and HOPE project, taking care of orphans and empowering various communities through projects like Child Aid, Children’s Town, Farmers Club, and the School WASH and quality Education Project.
It also promotes solidarity and humanism among people by creating the foundation upon which these can exist.
DAPP is a member of the Federation Humana People to People, which has its headquarters in Zimbabwe.
Humana People to People is a networking of non-profit organisations in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Latin America, all working in the field of international solidarity, co-operation and development.
Humana People to People was created to contribute to the fight against colonialism and apartheid in the late 1970s.
When the last countries of southern Africa had won their independence and later when apartheid was abolished, Humana People to People continued to contribute to building the new societies and better lives for the people.
But Stanley Mpubula, 25, considers DAPP as his saviour after the organisation incorporated him in its Children’s Town programme in 1998 and he is a teacher today because of the support he got from the organisation.
Established in 1992, Children’s Town in Chibombo’s Malambanyama village, the centre has seen more than 1,500 vulnerable children graduate from the school and pursue lucrative careers to contribute to the development of the country.
Children’s Town, situated 45 kilometres from Lusaka, facilitated Mr Mpubula’s education from primary to tertiary level.
Mr Mpubula narrated to this author how, in 1998, he found himself at the school run by DAPP.
Born in a family of four, Mr Mpubula recalls that after being enrolled into grade one in 1991 at Kasenga Primary School in Chongwe, he stopped school in grade two because of financial constraints.
During that period all he could do was to look after cattle instead of going to school. To a boy of his age, looking after cattle was easier than helping his parents till the land.
“I started looking after cattle because I did not have anyone to take responsibility of my education.
My father was a polygamist and all of his wives looked up to him for the well- being of their children,” Mr Mpubula recalls.
He recalls that on January 5, 1998, his sister who was married and lived in the Copperbelt had heard of this school and decided to take him there for his education.
Mr Mpubula’s sister never looked at the years that had passed without him not being in class and insisted he goes into grade five despite him being 13 years old at the time.
Mr Mpubula said he faced a lot of challenges at school because he was younger and small in stature as compared to his classmates who were older than him.
Every time he reported in class his classmates jeered at him, and as a newcomer, this made his life difficult.
A few days later, Mr Mpubula sought the audience of the class teacher who he describes as very understanding and he was moved back to grade two.
“I found it very difficult to learn in a class of big pupils. I used to be ill-treated and learning was never enjoyable and I had to ask to be moved to a lower grade. Thank God I was moved by this very understanding teacher,” he recalls.
Because of his passion for education, Mr Mpubula worked hard to emerge first in class every time they had an examination.
“I realised I had nothing as a human being to count on or show my children. So, I had to put my entire mind on education.
“Because of my passion for education, I used to be number one each time we had end of term examinations and when I reached grade five, my teacher recommended that I attempt the grade seven examinations and surprisingly I made it to grade eight,” Mr Mpubula recalls.
Mr Mpubula qualified to grade eight at Kafushi Secondary School in Chibombo where he did his grade eight to 12 and upon completion in 2005, Children’s Town engaged him as an untrained teacher taking up grade six.
A year later, he decided to go to Kitwe Teacher’s Training College and was first sponsored by DAPP but due to huge demands of DAPP’s financial support from the community, Mr Mpubula decided to apply for a government bursary and luckily he was given.
The two-year teaching course has seen Mr Mpubula recruited as a teacher at Ndola’s Northrise Basic School where he has been since early this year.
Going back down memory lane, Mr Mpubula says the importance of school was not clearly explained to him and instead, he looked at school as a waste of time not until he was incorporated by DAPP.
“I think parents should take an active role in children’s education by explaining to their children the importance of going to school. Let your children see the relevance of school and visualise them being prominent entrepreneurs, chief executives of their own company or civil servants,” he says.
The Children’s Town runs a rehabilitation and integration programme for former street children and a community school for orphans and vulnerable children from the surrounding communities.
After being in Zambia for 20 years now, DAPP has made an impact in the lives of many and still pledges its continued support to the education sector.
DAPP Zambia managing director Rene Schultz disclosed that DAPP is in the process of starting a teachers’ training programme focusing on training teachers for rural schools.
Mr Schultz said DAPP will open eight teachers’ training colleges in eight provinces, who will be trained to take up the teaching profession in rural areas with the first one to be opened in 2012.
“For the 20 years we have been in Zambia, I think we are better placed to invest more in education.
Because of this, DAPP will construct eight teachers’ training colleges around the country whose main focus will be the rural populace,” he said.
The Children’s Town is a project offering a home, safe environment and education in all spheres of life to allow the children to transform themselves into self-sustaining and creative citizens. Currently, the Children’s Town has 434 children of which 54 are boarders.
Since 1990 when the organisation was registered, DAPP’s main objective has been poverty alleviation and community empowerment.
Indeed, poverty is a coil that leads to lack of education, low productivity and high child mortality which leads to further poverty and underdevelopment in various communities.
For the past 20 years of its existence in Zambia, DAPP has implemented various projects to work with people in need by providing knowledge, skills and tools that will empower them and their families to overcome the challenges of everyday life, thereby improving their quality of life.
DAPP also supports various communities in Zambia. The projects promote education at all levels through programmes in schools, training the teachers, teaching the peasant farmers and their families, training the workers in the projects and training those around the projects.
DAPP is also working in the fight against HIV and AIDS under the Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) programme and HOPE project, taking care of orphans and empowering various communities through projects like Child Aid, Children’s Town, Farmers Club, and the School WASH and quality Education Project.
It also promotes solidarity and humanism among people by creating the foundation upon which these can exist.
DAPP is a member of the Federation Humana People to People, which has its headquarters in Zimbabwe.
Humana People to People is a networking of non-profit organisations in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Latin America, all working in the field of international solidarity, co-operation and development.
Humana People to People was created to contribute to the fight against colonialism and apartheid in the late 1970s.
When the last countries of southern Africa had won their independence and later when apartheid was abolished, Humana People to People continued to contribute to building the new societies and better lives for the people.
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