Monday 17th October, 2022
Government has failed to release the grant for secondary and primary schools for term three, causing panic and uncertainty as schools find it difficult to prepare for the forthcoming examinations due to lack of funds.
Term 3 is quite a crucial term in the calendar of our Education in Zambia; this is because of Exams for Grades 7, 9 and 12 but schools are not yet funded to prepare for this important undertaking.
The money is particularly crucial because the management of exams require funds to buy stationery, provide security, establish strong rooms, purchase trunks, hire police officers, provide transport or money for fuel to collect papers from the district centres every day to and from, provide food for the teachers invigilating exams and so forth. Further, some invigilators are yet to take their oaths, meaning they must be taken to zonal schools where swearing in ceremonies should take place and that requires money or fuel. All these activities require money yet government has not released any money to date.
We are in serious trouble; not only is Government grant too small and inadequate but it is not even coming on time making it extremely difficult for schools to run properly.
This mismanagement of our education system by the New Doom Government is not only frustrating teachers and school managements but it is destroying the quality of the education being given to our children. This is why the failure rate is getting worse and worse. Worse still, the drop-out rate has worsened. This Government is mortgaging the future of our kids.
We challenge President Hakainde SAMMY Hichilema to for once walk the talk and resolve the problems our schools are facing by adequately fund them. There is no point in pronouncing a populist free education policy when Government is failing to provide adequate funding to schools thus rendering the very policy useless. Education is key to personal and national development thus we must be serious when dealing with matters of education.
Issued by;
Antonio Mwanza
Media Director
Patriotic Front