The Government has said it it will not rescind its decision to abolish Academic Production Unit (APU) classes because it was done in good faith following the improved classroom infrastructure in the country.
Education Minister Dora Siliya said yesterday that APU classes were introduced because of a shortage of schools, and that since the situation had improved there was no reason for such classes to continue.
Ms Siliya, who was speaking when she paid a courtesy call on Central Province Minister Ackimson Banda in Kabwe yesterday, that the decision to abolish APU classes was done in the interest of pupils who should not be considered as inferior.
She said the Government believed in equal distribution of education facilities in line with the Government’s policies, and that it was ready to meet with unions, guardians and parents over the matter.
Early this week, the Secondary School Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) objected the Government’s decision to abolish APU classes.
SESTUZ deputy general secretary for administration and organisation, Emmanuel Zulu said it was premature to do away with APU classes given the existing inadequate infrastructure and over-enrolment in schools.
Meanwhile, Ms Siliya paid tribute to the central provincial administration for working hard and contributing to Zambia’s development through improved health, education facilities, as well increased productivity.
She said Central Province had continued being a shining example to other provinces because of various economic activities taking place in the area.
The provincial minister, Mr Banda reiterated the provincial administration’s commitment to ensuring that programmes such as the construction and rehabilitation of schools and teachers’ houses were carried out in line with the Government’s vision of improved infrastructure.
Mr Banda said currently, the exercise of phasing out schools built using mud was going on well, and was hopeful that once finances were made available, the exercise would be concluded.
[ Times of Zambia ]
Don’t be hard of head Dollar Sillier! Where will u fit the APU pupils? How many schools have u constructed and how far apart are they? What is the Teacher Pupil ratio in school? There is a serious shortage of teachers n school!The newly constructed schools are in corrupt head Dollar not in reality! The pupils will be the ultimate losers!!
Well done.I remember how the APU pupils used to be stigmatised as failures.My neighbour almost quit school cos of stigma until his mom found him a place at a rural boarding school.
No new schools in Ndola, Kitwe so where will the APU classes go? Don’t play politics with school children’s lives and futures.
This is a country where you still have schools built from mud and pole. Did dollar sillier really consult widely on this decision, coz i thot SESTUZ shud hav been major stake holders. But it seems not, just one of those boardroom decisions devoid of stakeholder input or participation.
Education Minister Dora Siliya said yesterday that APU classes were introduced because of a shortage of schools, and that since the situation had improved there was no reason for such classes to continue-BA DORA, THE REASON WHY APUs WERE INTRODUCED WAS TO CATER FOR THOSE WHO HAD SCORED LESS THAN THE CUT OFF POINTS.IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH LACK OF SPACE.UNLESS YOU ARE TELLING US THAT NOW YOU HAVE REDUCED THE CUT OFF POINTS.ALSO NOTE THAT THE SAME TEACHERS WHO TOOK CHARGE OF NORMAL CLASSES WERE THE SAME ONES RUNNING THE APUs IN THE AFTERNOONS.THEN TELL US WHERE THE EXTRA TEACHERS WILL COME FROM IF YOU ABOLISH THE A/N SESSIONS. LIKE WHERE IAM THERE NO NEW SCHOOLS AND NO EXTRA TEACHERS.
#2 Sharp Shooter- That reason is weird. One my sisters ended in becoming a registered nurse after APU. So what stigma are you talking about. This is the problem with you blacks. You look down on others instead of encouraging them. No wonder you allow ill qualified bazungu to hold high positions, but you block fellow Zambians from the same on the pretext of poor qualifications.
#5(Deja Vu)
From my experience,it fair.Infact at Chiwala APU classes were phased out way back and the APU pupils were integrated as normal pupils.The reason was very simple.APU pupils were not getting as much attention as normal pupils cos teachers were either tired from morning classes or felt they were not obliged to cos teaching APU was like part-time as arranged by PTA and other stakeholders.
dora is making one mistake. she should have met with the unions, parent and guardian long before the decision to scrap APU. not planning to meet them now
This Dora Silly is just exposing MMD’s ignorance about education in Zambia. Anyway,what can we expect from these failures? Afterall,they not even interested in the education of Zambians but in votes.
selling of schools and now apu ba dora please let it be for the sake of girl child.APU classes has really helped the girl child.
ba dora plse for the sake of the girl child let it stay.because of intimidation many girls with children opted for APU classes and have done very well.please you are making a mistake.
Dola will destroy this country, they started by passing a bill that will allow them to sale public schools and now they want cut quite a large number of students out of school!!! does dora even know the reason why apu was started? how many schools have they built in every district to cutter for these kids?
ha ha ha Deja Vu just because you siter managed in th APU does not mean there was no stigma associated with APU. # 2 is tell what he personally experienced, who are you to just throw it out. You are not even consistent in your view. i remeber back you suported magande’s thinking that Gov is just building too many school which will become white elephants. No toady you are saying actually too fewer schools.
#10 there will not be a mass sale of schools. these guys will not even sell one school in the rural areas or area where there is an obvious shortage of schools. that bill gives an option to go in partnership with private sector,or lease the school or sale all options have failed. Interprete the bill in the correct light. i am sure you have not even read the bill yourself.
i would understand your skeptism about this idea because its actually new. i think it just calls for a wide sensible debate about the issue
#11
Global citizaen-If the facility was not available she would not be where she is to day. By the way she is now studying advanced nursing.
Dora, such decisions must come from Professional, teachers, lectures etc in corroboration with parents and of course u politicians to a little extent. As a politician, you can not make such a descion on behalf of these people.Do u know that alot of many people are in universities now becuase of APU?
You mean you dont have better things to contribute to the minstry than planing to start selling school, apolishing APU. this is retrogressive. You should be talking about upgarding all School laboratories, buying updated books, motivating teachers etc. That is what we expect from you.
Simple analysis from my surrounding community. Number of new schools built in last 15 years , (20 years if you like) – ZERO (0) Schools with APU- EIGHT (8) (and i believe still counting) oh! by the way, no points for guessing that i did not include some schools with night school which i believe are a sure target of this demented thinking.
APU – Aternoon pupils Are Useless…. i remember how normal pupils in our dayz used to translate those abbreviatons … it reallY does stigmatize pupils and makes them feel inferior but hey the truth IS if u failed to pass grade grade 9 exams the school would only take u on APU
i know of many APU students who have made it to the University and other colleges. the issue of inferiority is not something to do with the APU classes but the people who need to be educated. infact now the situation is ok. APU classes infact received more attention coz they are not affected by strikes. Its shallow reasoning to think that all the students who go in the morning are the same, others are inferior as perceived by some sectors.- think of a student from David Kaunda Technical or Hillcrest to compare him/her to a pupil from Chifubu or Serenje.
Compare students from UNZA and those from Oxford!
simple reasoning should not be tolerated.
DULL DORA
What is the phasing out strategy? when are you going to phase them out and how???? eh MMD is giving its political opponents a lot of good points to floot during campaigns. yah i wish i was a politician just to nail the cheap reasoning that Dora has portrayed
#17
Gearbox Nyambe – Thank you my friend. You see the problem with blacks is that they dont realise that the greatest things come from the simplest things.One may not meet the minimum to go to “normal high school” but that should not be the end of the road. Encourage this person. Bill Gates did not — you know the story–
A listening govt will listen to the sentiments of its people. I have found Dora to be as stuborn as RB. Here is what the UK govt was able to do in line with what the public said: “The government has abandoned its plans to privatise England’s public forests because of opposition from the public and MPs, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has told the Commons”. Unfortunately, in Zambia we have all knowing president and his MMD who don’t want to be advised by the their masters who are the electorate. These guys have a lot of money such that they want to start running soem built schools as their Ntembas. I have never seen a govt thst is stuborn like RB led govt. You give another 5 years to rule, you see more draconian laws.
Sometimes its good to be humble.this a wrong decision atleast for now.Let Dora ask herselff if all Lusaka APU pupils for example will be accommodated in the regular clases.Dont just be stuborn for nothing!