Teachers, school leaders and education support staff are critical in forming the minds of the leaders and communities of the future!
The recruitment of 30,496 teachers through the 2022 Zambia National budget, had us elated. It demonstrates Zambia's commitment to fulfilling its obligations toward the right to education as espoused by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and as recommended by the United Nations. It is set to transform the education system by mitigating the inequalities that are exacerbated by inadequate access, poor quality education services and low progression among others.
It is a positive contribution towards improving the teacher-pupil ratio, which currently stands at 1:58 for primary schools and 1:38 for secondary school levels. Subsequently this is likely to have a positive impact on progression rates and quality of service delivery which is a crucial aspect for attaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Quality Education.
The allocation of 2,056 teachers towards early childhood education will provide children with a solid foundation in emergent literacy and numeracy skills. 25,736 teachers have been recruited to serve in primary education and 2,694 teachers have been recruited under secondary education.