A 14 person Zambian delegation of senior Education Officials have praised the Kenyan government for having ensured every child in Primary and secondary education has a textbook for every subject studied.
The delegation led by Permanent Secretary for General Education Felix Phiri said an average of five children share a textbook in Zambia.
“We are amazed that Kenya has attained a 1:1 textbook to pupil ratio while Zambia has attained 1:5 textbook to pupil ration,” Dr. Phiri noted.
He made the remarks at Kagumo Teachers College.
The delegation was taken around by Central regional coordinator for Education (RCE) Stephen Barongo.
The officials visited to learn how Kenya had managed to solve textbook distribution to learners in schools and the quality of teacher education and training for learners in basic education levels.
“A teacher cannot deliver a good lesson if he is not well trained,’ he said.
The Principal of Kagumo Teachers College Francis Mwangi said the college had a unique curriculum that exposed trainee teachers to Physical Education and other support subjects that ably prepare them for teaching secondary education curriculum.
The Delegation visited schools in Nyeri and Muranga Counties.
The schools included Thunguma Primary School, and Mahiga Girls secondary school in Nyeri County, Gaturi Girls secondary schools, Technology Primary School Muranga County among other schools.
The benchmarking tour provided an opportunity for Education Policymakers in the two countries to share experiences on how best educational services are delivered efficiently and effectively.
Present during the tour in Nyeri and Muranga were the National Coordinator for Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQIP), Jane Mbugua, her counterpart in Global Partnership for Education, Early Grade Mathematics Project, and Martha Ekirapa, County Education Directors (CDEs) of Nyeri, Gabriel Obiero and his Muranga Counterpart, Ms. Anne Kiilu .
The Star
1:5 textbook to pupil ration is derived from the Zambia culture of sharing chibuku, communal toilets and banker beds at CBU…
If you go to Ministry of education, you will find piles and piles of text books never distributed.
You go to some headmaster office, piles and piles of books not given to children some from 1990.
Ask Sydney Mushanga, he found piles and piles of medicine and medical materials not distributed in Chibombo.
My niece was told to bring her own desk to school, otherwise she would sit on bricks.
Kenya has no minerals, no hydro-power, only wild animals (which we also have).
Yet Kenya’s national budget is $30 Billion whilst Zambia’s is only $7 Billion.
PF is a failed experiment.
Thanks Dr Phiri he has done well to expose this statistic which most people are in denial continually believing roads and endless roads expenditure will save this country from under development ..when we tell most people that this so called infrastructure development mostly fuelled by corrupt contracts should not be the development we should seek and focus on as a matter of priority there is a lot of insults showered…now we are so lagging in most key human indices that in real terms what u are seeing as development is all but an illusion. This article cannot expose more our backwardness despite the so called “glittering” malls, roads, increased cars …with which OF supporters base their arguments on
We all can help. Books for Zambia started by Teresa Lungu from Luanshya is one such project. She sources donations from people and institutions around the world who then sends the books to the library. A pure and corruption free venture. The library in Luanshya is thriving all thanks to her.
The only problem is it takes the Zambian government forever to clear these books especially when they receive in bulk.
1.4 Olivia, Teresa initiative is laudable and should be commended but I fear it is just a small part of the solution. We do not only need books but education and reading culture. Having books alone will not improve our education levels as I am sure despite the library in Luanshya improving its stock, it might not have seen an increase in patronage. We need well motivated and educated teachers at lower/basic level of education to improve reading levels at primary level. If the masses can read maybe then the reading culture will improve. The more people can read, then the more they will thirst for books and increase their knowledge. Knowledge is synonymous with education. Education opens horizons, is the great enabler and leads to a well-informed citizenry and electorate. Then we will begin…
Phiri is former PS at Ministry of General Education. Why he went there its all about stealing cash from boma. He should have stayed away instead of being amazed at 1:1 ration. Yes its all about how they share the loot and chibuku in Zambia hence the bad ratios. Kikikiki!!!!!
What a disaster!!!!!
The money being wasted on lazy corrupt Lungu’s unnecessary trips could’ve been used to buy textbooks for schools…so they can attain 1:1 ratio. But lazy Lungu has other priorities, and education improvement in the country is not one of them. His first priority is flying around in his jet, making unnecessary trips in and outside the country. What a shame.
Its not just about books, our education system needs a complete overhaul. Our standards are too low and its not a joke. Just compare students from Zambia and those from Zim or Kenya OR compare trained professionals to ours its not a good feeling. Until we bite the bullet and overhaul the system we have, we will have ourselves to blame in future
The worst part about what you say is that the Zambian education system was at par with that of Zimbabwe and Kenya not too long ago because we are all legacies of the Britsh system. Our friends were able to hold on to what was good of the British system and adapt as necessary while we seem to have lost the essence of what makes the British education system superior.
Useless trip.
With the money wasted on this trip alone, Zambia would have attained the 1:1 ratio they are now praising in Kenya.
Muleishiba utuntu.
Phiri is former PS at Ministry of General Education. Why he went there its all about stealing cash from boma. He should have stayed away instead of being amazed at 1:1 ration. Yes its all about how they share the loot and chibuku in Zambia hence the bad ratios. Kikikiki!!!!!
What a disaster!!!!!
Good point @Indigo …. The money spent on a 14 ‘man’ delegation to Kenya to gather information that could easily have been gathered in other ways, would have gone a long way in dealing with our 1 : 5 ratio. The PS even appears proud to raise Kenya while highlighting our lacunae.
Times are changing and with a good education there is nothing a Zambian cannot do. Come on Zambia!
if you always use your swimming pools, you will need to use some quality pool cleaner a lot-