ECL IS RIGHT
NOBERT MUMBA WROTE
ECL, understood in context, is right. Free education, ZNS cheap mealie meal, unproductive FISP, poorly planned CDF is leading Zambia to a collapse as what happened under the UNIP government of Kenneth Kaunda. Quite obviously a number of people were young but be reminded that free education, free medical services subsidised mealie meal collapsed Zambia to the extent that you had to queue hours for any essential. Eventually this was coined as being “borne with a copper spoon”;
1. Subsidy must be in context. Free education must go to those that need it while those that can afford must contribute to education.
2. Similarly, ZNS cost of producing mealie is the most expensive in the industry because its costs are basically hidden in a government budgetary allocation and its renumeration structure is way above a typical milling plant. Where ZNS is collaborating with selected millers, it is obvious there is a deal to cushion the miller’s for them to sell at below market prices.
3. In the same vein, ill-planned CDF with constituencies littered with inefficiently utilised graders and other road making equipment is not as effective as deploying resources to do a proper road running through several constituencies that will spur economic activity.
4. Similarly, putting up one or two big well equipped schools in a district with boarding facilities is far better than putting up poorly equipped schools without teacher housing everywhere. Remember we clamour for Hilcrest, David Kaunda, St Mary’s ECL school etc because of quality infrastructure and teaching environment.
5. The increase in enrolment in schools is not as a result of free education because even under previous regimes there was an instruction that no child should be turned away from school because of uniform or fees. What kept enrolments lower than now, was schools closing enrolments when authorised numbers were attained. Weren’t we aware of the corruption cries by parents during enrolment periods?
Headteachers were even investigated for corruption for over enrolling. So attributing increased enrolment to parents failing to pay K200 per term or K66/school month is falsely pacifying ourselves. Equally, transferring the financial burden of educating a child from parents to government is suicidal for economic stability.
6. So lets not lie to ourselves because contrary to understanding our indebtedness cannot be resolved as government is borrowing every two weeks on the domestic market to sustain its operations. It is still contracting debt, and we are becoming more indebted. Like every previous government, they leave the mess for the next government to sort out and the people to endure the pain.
7. By the way there was no “free education” under Dr Kaunda’s government because when you completed after university or college you were bonded to work only for government or government approved institutions even when there were a lot of lucrative jobs around. One was bonded for four years.
The truth sometimes hurts but this is only the truth. Pleasant day.