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.
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