RESEARCH REPORT BY KABASO SYDNEY
The main aim of the study was to examine the impact
of Local Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) involved in basic education in
Zambia.
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This study was conducted to provide current and
relevant data on NGOs providing basic education in Zambia within the specific
framework of the project Basic Education Capacity for local NGOs in Zambia.
Education in Zambia is
recognized as an indispensable pre - requisite for socio - economic
development, in general, and for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in
particular. In this context the national policy on education, Educating Our
Future, highlights the importance of, and the need to enhance access to, and
improving the participation rate in higher education as a means of contributing
to the development of the high-level skills and knowledge necessary for social
and economic development (Ministry of Education 1996).
The Government of the Republic
of Zambia (GRZ) is the biggest provider of education in Zambia. It operates 65% of the basic schools
(covering grades 1-9) in which 84% of the basic school age population (ages 7 to 15) is
enrolled. An important initiative to help make public education accessible to
all was the introduction of free basic education in 2002. This has had a
positive impact and by 2004 the gross basic school enrollment rate had increased
to 93.1%, with over 2 million children enrolled in public schools.
This is an increase of over 715,000 enrollments
since 2000. Net enrollment rates also showed improvement in 2004 at 82.7%, up
from 68.1% in 2000 and 78.8% in 2003. A smaller proportion of girls than boys
are enrolled but net enrollment of girls have improved by nearly 25% since 2000,
compared with nearly 20% for boys. Importantly, drop-out rates in basic
education have declined and national assessment scores have improved. High school
(grades 10-12) enrollments have also increased although places are still very
limited.
Hundreds of new classrooms and
schools are being built and existing ones refurbished to accommodate the increased number of children
in school. In addition, the supply of teachers has increased by over 8500 since
2000 as enrolment in teacher training colleges increased, the most significant
increase being a massive 53% rise from 2003 to 2004. The supply of text books
per pupil has also increased.
Statement of the Problem
Despite the Government putting education as a human
right for all, Zambia faces many challenges in realizing the potential of
education in promoting socio - economic development largely because of the
inability of the economy to support the expansion of the education system at
all levels. This has made the provision of distance education in Zambia a
necessary and important national development activity.
Education in Zambia is
recognized as an indispensable pre - requisite for socio - economic
development, in general, and for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in
particular. In this context the national policy on education, Educating Our
Future, highlights the importance of, and the need to enhance access to, and
improving the participation rate in higher education as a means of contributing
to the development of the high-level skills and knowledge necessary for social
and economic development (Ministry of Education 1996).
The Government of the Republic
of Zambia (GRZ) is the biggest provider of education in Zambia. It operates 65%
of the basic schools (covering grades 1-9) in which 84% of the basic school age population (ages 7 to 15) is
enrolled. An important initiative to help make public education accessible to
all was the introduction of free basic education in 2002. This has had a
positive impact and by 2004 the gross basic school enrolment rate had increased
to 93.1%, with over 2 million children enrolled in public schools.
Three main
objectives were:
- To examine the impact of NGO’s in
the provision of basic education in Zambia.
- To identify challenges faced in the
provision of education in Zambia
- To examine the relationship
maintained with other stake holders in the provision of education in
Zambia.
100
respondents from 10 Local NGO’s were involved in the study. Simple random
sampling was used in the study with the use of self administered
questionnaires. Data was analyzed qualitative and quantitatively.The study was done at Nasenga Basic School in Kapiri Mposhi District of Zambia.
The main research objectives showed that Non Governmental Organization that work in the provision of education in Zambia are involved in three main activities.
1ST INTERVENTION :
The NGOs involved in children’s basic education
programs basically deal with three categories of children, the street children,
orphans and the children whose parents cannot afford to pay school fees or even
provide food for their children.
As shown on Figure 1 of the main report, out of 100 (100%)
respondents 56 representing 56% said NGO are involved in assisting the Orphans
and vulnerable children in Zambia access education.
Children retrieved from the streets given access to
basic education for the purpose of reintegrating them into formal learning.
Some of these children are also provided with home for the length of time that
they are being supported. Other children come off the streets for a few hours
on a daily basis and are in some cases provided with a meal.
The orphaned include both those that are in homes
(the majority) and those that need to be sheltered. The NGOs that pay
particular attention to this category of children assist by
- Paying for necessary school
requirements in the formal school
- By running community schools that do not
require uniforms to be worn or schools fees to be paid.
2nd INTERVENTION
28% of the respondents revealed that not all NGO are
involved in education in Zambia. 28 of the respondents were found to be
providing community basic education.A second type of NGO in children’s basic education does not necessarily
deal with the underprivileged. The Zambia pre -school basic is an umbrella
organization for all preschools whose main objective is to create awareness on
early childhood development and care. The great majority of pre schools are
thus fee paying ranging from low to very high cost. The community basic
education programmes are basically meant to provide education by creating
awareness among the members of the community. This is targeted towards sensitizing
the community to take part in decision making. It has been realized that the
underprivileged in society are not represented at decision making levels and
some do not even bother about decisions made although the decisions affect their
lives. The NGOs endeavor to create awareness among grass root communities. It is
realized among other things that a human being is not empty no matter how poor.
They can contribute towards the programs and decisions affecting them.
Furthermore, it is known to the NGOs that these grassroot communities if
empowered are capable of managing their own lives and are better able to
identify their needs which most of the community development projects could be
based on.
3RD INTERVENTION
Then 16 respondents representing 16% found that
other NGO’s are involved in literacy provision to children and women.
Apparently a number of NGOs base their objectives on
the above understanding of their target group. As such their basic education is
tailored towards meeting the objectives of creating awareness and sensitizing
rather than basically educating the communities on how to read and write.
Some NGOs involved in basic education base their
objectives on the fact that women are very underprivileged and need to be
helped to fight for their rights and be involved in decision making. These NGOs
support women and girls to acquire education so that they may be well informed
and be aware of their rights. Some of the women NGOs actually seek to work with
the rural women with an understanding that the sensitizing of the rural women
is the core issue in bringing about social change. Among the NGOs involved in
women programs, some set their objectives towards empowering women with skills
that will enable them manage their own lives. They concentrate on the skills as
a means of providing education and not necessarily literacy or formal
education.
There are some community based NGO's that give a
special literacy program for women. This also is based on the understanding
that women do not have the privilege to be in formal schools for a longer
period than men leading to high illiteracy among women.
The community based NGOs are also involved with
providing family life education, education on family planning and AIDS related
issues. These NGOs aim at improving the quality of human life and also provide
skills to the community who due to their poor health may not get the
opportunities or may be looked down upon especially AIDS patients and mental
patients.Children assisted (educated) from their parents or
guardian’s homes are not only provided with education, but there is an attempt
to address and meet their extra curricular needs such as the right to adequate
food, and proper housing with the understanding that successful educational
development can only take place within a conducive environment.
The researcher also found that, education is currently hit by poor infrastructure and resources. This is in the
to 54% of the respondents.
21 % of the respondents showed that the
education is currently facing inadequate trained teachers especially in rural
Zambia.
25 respondents 25 % found that a number of children
fail to continue with their education especially secondary and tertiary as a
result of inadequate funding from parents and guardians.
The NGOs sampled in the survey maintained relationship with the
government in a way of networking. The NGOs utilize the government workers such
as social workers, agricultural extension workers and community development
workers. In schools that are run by the missions the government provides
teachers and pay salaries.
Furthermore, NGOs that get financial support from
overseas have to write financial reports and progress reports for continued
support. The private sector also contributes towards the work of NGOs. Some
private institutions provide financial and material support to the NGOs. Some
even recommended that their workers be trained by some NGOs who have experience
in training of trainers
It is basing on this findings that the researcher recommended thatthe researcger recommended the following:-
- NGO's should sett up framework for imparting managerial skills
(financial & otherwise) to the needy NGO’s.
- Local NGO's should empower personnel in children’s programs with
specific training in teaching/handling children (especially girls and those in
need within their cultural and social contexts so as to efficiently meet their
psycho-social needs and transmit appreciation of education:
- by engendering a true awareness of the
foundational nature of the child’s educationby providing for and emphasizing the need for consistent
follow up to all cases
- Lastly , but not the least, there is need to enlighten NGOs on government efforts in education
to ensure the complimentary nature of their own work and make them fully conversant
with government policy on education and its “Partners” providing this basic
human right. Such a forum would greatly smoothen NGO operations.
