Vice President Guy Scott said the PF Government is committed to providing free education up to grade 12 level.He was speaking at Mawanda Basic School in Msanzala, where he was trumping up support for the Patriotic Front candidate Colonel Joseph Lungu in the race for the Msanzala parliamentary by-election.
Colonel Joseph Lungu who faces opposition from MMD’s Peter Daka and independent Usman Maumba.
The Vice-President, said he cannot thank his country Zambia enough for educating him for free up to university.He said President Sata’s government would modestly start extending a free education package to Zambian children from the first grade all the way to grade 12, in a bid to reduce poverty and enhance the economy.
“The government will ensure that every child is given an opportunity to be educated free of charge up to grade 12,” Dr Scott said, children with a better education are more likely to get better quality jobs.”
Dr Scott did not say when his government would implement the free education policy, nor did he state how much it would cost to roll out the crucial plan as public education teeters on the brink of collapse, according to various studies.
A recent UNICEF study for instance shows that Zambian teachers work under extreme pressure with a teacher pupil ratio of one teacher per 70 pupils or even more. This statistic is close to a 2007 Ministry of Education data which states that in rural areas such as Msanzala, the situation is worse.
The World Bank study shows that the low teacher to student ratio has remained the same for more than 10 years.
The study shows that accommodation and other services such as access to clean water and reliable basic health care need to be addressed in rural areas to attract teachers.
The study further reveals that in rural areas such as Msanzala, there’s only one house available to three teachers, a situation that further affects the public education sector and must be addressed side by side with extending free education up to grade 12.
Teachers, despite being over stretched, appear to be “grossly” underpaid compared to those in private schools.
Zambian teachers in the public sector earn about K1 million, with the highest university graduate earning about K2.5million—much less than their colleagues in the private sector who can gross up to K12 million per month.
A Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) study states that “free” education at a public school in Lusaka costs about K300, 000 per year at between grades eight and nine and about K1.2 million at high school or secondary school level.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Please be sure about that ,we are sick n tired of your U -turns
Its a wait at see game as i will not take the PF government seriousily in their pronouncement. Today this tomorrow that and third day big U turn, fooling Zambians te!
How can you extend Free Basic Education to High Schools when you have failed to meet the Education for All goal on universal access to primary education? Ask Basic schools first and find out what they receive from Gvt as a result of denying them income/fees from pupils? Nothing! Some of them fail even to buy chalk.
Do rearch Doc.
Mr VP be reminded that the unit cost for one pupil at High School is far much higher than primary and therefore it will only lead to poor standards and over-crowding without quality. Can you constantly, timely and adequately provide money for all baording schools to eat breakfast, lunch and super? And remember, these are only part of what the fees paid at High School are used for, there is more.
Well done this is one of the reasons we voted you in! It’s too easy to criticise anyone can do that!!!!
Be careful mr VP the Vice presidency will be moved from you with those pronouncements.
besides, when they say free education, does this include abolishing what they conviniently call “user fees or PTA fees?”
From the terrraces, am just wondering how one can can talk about free education at G12 when theres none yet at G1 level. Teachers are beggars; always moonlighting even during official hours. First streamline the education system from the base, may be we can believe you there after. By the way what happened to the announcement about reverting to the old education system?
Extremely important!
Guy Scott, have you consulted and cleared it with the Acting President Alex Chikwanda?
What has happened to the pronouncement that we are going back to secondary schools instead of having basic and high schools?
@ pound and pence,its easy for the VP to hallucinate.Where the hell are they going to find the money to pay for free education?Foolish politicking.Lets talk sensible issues.PF seems to have no direction.2moro another Minister or Sata will come to refute the statement.Zambia is in shit.Come 5yrs some of you who depend on politicians would be dead with high pressure if not poverty
Immediately pf came into power all the high schools hiked their fees. This january we had to pay through our noses. Imwe ba scott dyani chabe coz we a thinking u guys have to vacate sooner coz u a liars. YOU ARE WORSE THAN MMD.
Congratulations with an excellent piece. Taking most European countries as an example, there is no reason why children could not be exposed to a minimum of three languages at school.
But when they reach university they will be paying 18million like at CBU?
I am with the VP on this matter, I hope that it comes to pass. Good predictions. If the Country will develop, there is need of free education like in Canada, USA and UK I think.
someone has to tell the VP that this is one of the most destructive policies of PF. its will be done at a high cost to our children and their children. how can you pay for children whose parents can afford. it unfair for those people who truly deserve free education. pay for people that cannot afford not everyone. otherwise technically the poor will be subsidizing the rich. VP should know that its this same policy that has killed our universities in the country. now you have a parent who sends one child to a university in zambia for free and sends another to a university in bostwana, namibia and SA and pays cash. so the VP says its ok to enrich universites outside and impoverish ours. pure UNIP rot. let him tell us how much ‘free education’ will cost the tax payers.
Good suggetion Mr. V.P hope you keep what you are promising. Tomorrow don’t say people have misquoted.
CAN YOU START TEACHING A LEVELS AT SECONDARY SCHOOLS BECAUSE IT WILL SERVE A LOT OF MONEY AND DECONGEST UNIVERSITIES. SENDING STUDENTS TO UNIVERSITY TO STUDY A LEVELS IN THE FIRSTS YEAR NOT HEARD OF IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. WE NEED TO LEARN VERY QUICKLY FROM WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING. UNIVERSITIES IN ZAMBIA ARE USED AS AN EXTENSION OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS. ANY ONE WITH BRAINS TO THINK ABOUT THIS AND HELP THE CHANGE?