RESEARCH REPORT- ROLE OF NGO'S IN EDUCATION IN ZAMBIA

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.

BUY THIS RESEARCH AT 30 US DOLLARS NOW

Available in Pdf upon confirmation of payment

 For help in Research Report writing call Kabaso today on +260 -966717712 or email: kabasosydn@yahoo.com

 

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:

1. To examine the impact of NGO’s in the provision of basic education in Zambia.
2. To identify challenges faced in the provision of education in Zambia
3. 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

1. Paying for necessary school requirements in the formal school
2.  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:- 

 

1. NGO's should sett up framework for imparting managerial skills (financial & otherwise) to the needy NGO’s.
2. 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:
3.  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
4. 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.