2016 TO 2021 vs 2022 TO 2026 IN TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND IMPACT ON EDUCATION
When the UPND Government introduced free education, millions of additional children gained access to school. More pupils meant more classrooms to manage, more lessons to teach, and inevitably, more teachers to employ. Now look at the progression of teacher recruitment:
2016: 5,792
2017: 3,148
2018: 0
2019: 2,009
2020: 0
2021: 0
Total under PF (2016 – 2021): 10,949 teachers
Then came the implementation of free education.
2022: 30,496 teachers recruited.
2023: 7,222 teachers recruited (including replacement recruitment).
2024: 4,200 teachers recruited.
2025: 4,319 replacement teachers recruited.
2026: the delayed 2,000 exercise is being processed, while a further 3,500 has been budgeted and recruitment is being processed. Therefore, we shall deliberately exclude this figure from the total.
Total (2022 – 2024): 46, 236 teachers.
Think about that carefully. In just three years, the UPND Government recruited more than four times the number of teachers recruited during the preceding six year period.
This was not an accident. It was the logical consequence of a policy decision to expand access to education. Free education was never simply about removing school fees. It required more teachers, more classrooms, more desks, more learning materials, and greater investment across the education sector.
This demonstrates an important principle of public policy. Good policies must be matched with the resources needed to implement them. The recruitment of teachers therefore represents not merely an employment programme, but a strategic investment in Zambia’s human capital. Every teacher recruited means more children receiving an education, more opportunities for young people, and a stronger foundation for the country’s future.
Zambia Forward, TOGETHER in UNITY. 🇿🇲
Saviour Chishimba
President
United Progressive People (UPP)
UPND Alliance Partner