The Zambian education system has seriously deteriorated over the last
twenty years due to economic decline, lack of resources and institutional
inefficiencies. Information required for sound policy and management decisions
is rarely available when needed.
Although the population grows at an annual rate of about 3.2%, the number
of Zambian children enrolled in school has only marginally increased since
1990. Of those that enter Grade 1, only about two-thirds complete school
through Grade 7. The persistence of girls in attending school is lower
than that of boys, in general, and, in rural areas, is much lower than
that of boys. The stagnation of school enrollment is due to a number of
long-standing problems including inadequate numbers of schools and long
distances between homes and school facilities.
School infrastructure has also deteriorated. Furniture, textbooks and
learning materials in most schools are in very short supply or non-existent.
Zambia's HIV/AIDS crisis further undermines the educational system by
significantly increasing teacher absences and attrition rates and causing
dramatic increases in the number of school-age orphans. Finally, girls
-- who have traditionally been disadvantaged in education -- are falling
further behind their male counterparts. USAID/Zambia's basic education
strategy with the Government of Zambia is aimed at improving the quality
of basic education, access to that education, and learning performance,
especially among girls. This is done through a series of targeted programs
in education and health and nutrition delivered through Zambia's schools.
A complementary set of activities will build capacity in the Ministry
of Education to monitor pupil performance and apply the information to
improve education, as well as to develop private sector capacity to improve
education and promote community involvement in the provision of basic
education.
Improved quality of learning environments:
Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) USAID support for IRI is to
increase access to basic education for out-of-school children. USAID provides
Technical Assistance (TA) to Education Broadcasting Services (EBS) writers
and producers to develop high-quality IRI that is broadcast to IRI centers
throughout the country. Although the main focus of the assistance has
been on quality programming, partnerships for supporting the program across
the country are also encouraged and facilitated. Arrangements between
Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education (MOE) have been made for Peace
Corps volunteers to work with their communities in forming and facilitating
IRI centers; USAID has facilitated the use of other voluntary support
including the use of a volunteer's expertise to help develop HIV/AIDS
radio programming; and EBS and faith-based organizations to support IRI
in their communities as the need arises.
Plans are currently underway to enhance the quality of IRI programming
from Grade 1-5, to increase training of IRI mentors (untrained teacher
volunteers) to use participatory approaches to teach HIV/AIDS and lifeskills
concepts for behavior change, and to adapt IRI programming for use in
community schools and regular government primary schools. Thus far, about
20,000 children have accessed basic education through the IRI program.
Assessments of IRI pupil performance show that they are learning and are
enthusiastic about the opportunity.
Community Sensitization and Mobilization Campaign (CSMC) The CSMC
activity supports the MOE's aim for greater access to basic education,
especially for girls, orphans, and out-of-school children through the
active participation of communities in the education of their children.
Technical assistance and resources help the MOE to sensitize and mobilize
communities around the issue of education for all of their children, especially
regarding the education of their girls, orphans and other vulnerable children,
the enrollment of their out-of-school children, and the mitigation of
the effects of HIV/AIDS on education in their communities. Mechanisms
to equip communities with the skills, techniques, and communication channels
to address their own education needs and, if necessary, facilitate access
to additional resources to achieve their objectives. The CSMC will help
build capacity of MOE personnel and community partners, especially at
district and zonal levels, to carry out this effort. A small grants program
complements other CSMC activities. A major part of the CSMC process has
been to establish multisector teams (Ministry of Education, Ministry of
Health and Ministry of Community Development and Social Services) and
this has been achieved. These teams have conducted sensitization and participatory
learning assessments with over 190 communities in 7 districts affecting
the education of over 12,000 children to date.
Improved delivery of school-based health and nutrition interventions:
School Health and Nutrition (SHN) program -The aim of the SHN
program is to improve pupils' health and nutrition status and thereby
improve their learning capacity and performance. CHANGES is assisting
the MOE in establishing a SHN intervention delivery system. In doing so,
the capacity and protocols for cooperation among three ministries are
developed at headquarters (especially between the Ministries of Education
and Health but also the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services),
provincial and district levels with District Education Offices and District
Health Management Teams, and zonal and community levels.
The program is developing the capacity to monitor and assess progress
in SHN programs by working with the MOE in developing an SHN information
system, establishing a baseline of information on children, and monitoring
changes in children's health, nutrition and learning. The SHN program
delivers teacher, pupil and community education in the areas of health
and nutrition, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS and life skills as well
as medical interventions such as de-worming and micro-nutrients. Models
for sensitizing communities through drama and information, education,
and communication (IEC) strategies are being piloted and implemented,
as are community mobilization strategies.
This program is also trying out a multi-sector approach to development
which is not only necessary to provide the interventions the MOE wants
but provides an experience from which lessons that can be gained. These
activities are also complemented by a Small Grants Activity. As of June
2003, the program had reached 20,879 children in the 50 schools and three
original pilot districts of Eastern Province and has assisted the MOE
in accelerating the program to three (3) additional districts and in the
same province. The program has shown that many children in school are
indeed affected by malnutrition, worms, and schistosomiasis (bilharzia)
and that the cost effective treatment work well. Preliminary results from
a study of the effects of the intervention on learning will be available.
Improved Information for Decision-Making:
Education Management Information System (EMIS) and Competency Testing
- The EMIS activity assists the MOE with building its capacity to collect
timely education data and use it in planning and decision-making at headquarters,
provincial and district levels and, to a degree, zonal and community levels.
Although USAID resources are focused on piloting and implementing EMIS
in Southern and Eastern Provinces, technical assistance is available to
the MOE to plan for the rollout of EMIS in all provinces. For the first
time, the collection and reporting of findings of 2002 school census data
by the end of 2002 ("this year's data reported this year.") Thus far,
technical assistance has helped the MOE set up an EMIS platform, build
capacity to monitor the collection and input of the school census data,
and prepare the 1996-1999 education trends report and the Annual BESSIP
Indicators Performance Reports as well as install a computer training
lab and training key EMIS personnel in MOE headquarters and in all districts
of two provinces.
Also, the activity assists the MOE in redesigning the Annual School Census
instrument and training of head teachers from all schools in Zambia. The
same technical assistance package has also assisted the Examination Council
in competency test development to measure pupil learning for Grade Four.
Zambia DHS Education Survey (ZDES) - The ZDES activity focused
on collecting education data from households to supplement the Ministry
of Education's annual school survey data (e.g., major factors that influence
household demand for schooling and perceived benefits of schooling). This
survey builds on the Demographic and Health Survey reported in 2003. The
ZDES was conducted with a sub-sample of about 5000 households interviewed
during the DHS who have school-aged children from 7 to 13 years. The survey
instrument especially focused on household information needs identified
by the SHN, equity and gender and HIV/AIDS components. The ZDES report
provides a rich, scientific set of information on school-age children,
including basic literacy, numeracy, and anthropometric information from
households across the nation for the first time. Among its findings are
that the MOE's education management information system (EMIS) - see section
3 below-is reliable, that parity between boys and girls at early primary
level has been reached, and that parents welcome the teaching of HIV/AIDS-related
concepts in school.
Mitigation of HIV/AIDS in Education:
USAID's support for HIV/AIDS mitigation crosscuts all of its education
activities. Lifeskills education, community sensitization, and IEC activities
are fostered through interactive radio instruction, school health and
nutrition, and community sensitization and mobilization activities. The
collection and management of HIV/AIDS-related information is supported
through the ZDES and EMIS activities.
USAID has supported MOE's HIV/AIDS strategic planning through technical
assistance and is currently supporting an Assessment of HIV/AIDS' Impact
on Education (to include a look at education policy and the institutional
impact on management structures and personnel). USAID also provides assistance
for HIV/AIDS strategic planning in education through a regional HIV/AIDS
task force, based at the University of Natal, Durban, which the MOE may
request for assistance, based on its strategic planning needs.
Future Activities
USAID/Zambia has developed a new Country Strategic Plan 'Prosperity,
Hope and Better Health for Zambians' for FY2004 - 2010.
Strategic Obvjective 6,"Improved Quality Of Basic Education For More
School-Aged Children, Phase II" will support the GRZ in its expansion
of quality basic education under the education reform framework of the
Ministry of Education Strategic Plan (MOESP). SO6 will continue to expand,
and accelerate successful basic education programs implemented under the
FY1998-FY2003 CSP, as well as introduce new elements as appropriate.
HIV/AIDS impacts on education will be mitigated through programs targeted
at children of school-going age (awareness/prevention campaigns, training
in self-assertiveness and life skills) as well as expansion of FY1998-FY2003
programs to address the effects of HIV/AIDS on teachers and education
managers, including support to workplace programs.
USAID/Zambia
FY2004 - 2010 Country Strategic Plan
