OnenewschoolcouldmeanabetterlifeforZambia’steens,farmersandfishermenByHumphreyNkonde
IneverhadanyjobsafterIcompletedschoolbecausewedidnothave[big]companiesworkinghere.Nsamausedtobeavillageonce.NowithasbeentransformedintoadistrictandtheChinesehavecome[bringingemploymentopportunities].
MosesChansa,Zambianbricklayer
Thoughacountrywithayoungpopulation,Zambiafacesastiffchallengetoutilizeitsdemographicadvantageforeconomicandsocialgrowth.Onemajorreasonforthisisthelackofeducation.
AccordingtotheUNICEF,around4millionofZambia’s15-million-pluspopulationareofprimaryschoolage.However,over250,000ofthemdonotgotoschoolwhilemorethan45percentofthoseenrolledinprimaryschooldropoutwithoutcompletingthesevenyearsofbasiceducation.
Thesituationisworseforgirls.Zambiaisgrapplingwiththeissueofwidespreadchildmarriagesandteenpregnancies,especiallyinruralareas,whichforcegirlstudentstoleaveschooleveniftheirfamilieshavethefinancialresources.
AccordingtoMinistryofEducationstatistics,over16,000schoolgirlsbecamepregnantin2015,arisefromnearly15,000in2014.
However,thenumbercouldbehigherbecausetheministry’sfiguresareonlyforthosewhowereenrolledinschool.
Toaddresstheproblem,thegovernmenthasmadeseven-yearprimaryeducationfree.Itisalsobuildingnewschools,especiallyinruralareasandnewlycreateddistricts,totakestateresourcestothegrassroots.Whennewschoolsareconstructed,especiallyboardingschoolsinruralareas,thebenefitsaremultiple,asNsamahasbeguntodiscover.
Startingfromthegrassroots
OnceavillageintheNorthernProvincewithlittleinfrastructure,fewemploymentopportunitiesandanabsenceoflargecompanies,NsamawasupgradedtoadistrictwhenMichaelSatabecamethepresidentofZambiain2011.Thisyear,thenewlycreateddistrictgetsitsfirstboardingsecondaryschool.
LawrenceChilonge,whoworksasaclerkfortheNsamaDistrictCouncilCommittee,saidtheschoolwouldbenefitNsamaresidentswhoareforcedtosendtheirchildrentoother,moredevelopedbutdistantdistrictsforsecondaryschooleducation,andindoingso,havetospendmoremoneyontransportandaccommodation.
“MostofthepeopleherearepoorandareforcedtosendtheirchildrentootherdistrictssuchasKaputaandMporokosoforsecondaryeducation,”ChilongetoldChinAfrica.“Thismeansthatwhentheschooliscompleted,transportcostswouldbereduced[forthefamiliesofenrolledyoungsters].”
Zambia’sMinistryofEducationhasallocatedabout$5millionforbuildingtheschoolandthecontractwasgiventoChina’sJiangxiZhongmeiEngineeringGroup.
AChinesesupervisorofthecompany,whodeclinedtobenamed,saidtheyarebuildingclassrooms,students’hostels,ablockoftoilets,andakitchenanddininghall.Theprojectalsoincludes27staffresidentialquarters.Atthemoment,teachersandotherstaffliveinpoorlyconstructedstructures,includinggrassthatchedhutsthatdonothaveelectricity.
ChilongesaidthecouncilwasimpressedwiththeworkmanshipoftheChinesewhocompleteconstructionprojectsfasterthanlocalcontractors.Thelatterhasalreadycausedsomeprojectstobedelayed.
JiangxiZhongmeiishiringlocalresidentsforthework.Their11-memberChinesetechnicalteamisassistedbyabout100Zambians.
MosesChansaisayoungZambianworkingasabricklayerontheschoolproject.“IneverhadanyjobsafterIcompletedschoolbecausewedidnothave[big]companiesworkinghere,”Chansasaid.“Nsamausedtobeavillageonce.NowithasbeentransformedintoadistrictandtheChinesehavecome[bringingemploymentopportunities],”Chansasaid.
Hesaidhewouldputasidethemoneyhewasearningtofurtherhiseducation.
MosesChishimbaChisala,aNsamaresidentwhoworksasaconservationist,saidthepresenceoftheschoolwouldencouragesmall-scalefarmerstogrowriceandbeanssothattheycanselltheproductstotheschool.
NsamahasthepotentialtogrowricebecauseitissurroundedbytheTanganyika,MweruwaNtipaandChishilakes.Moreover,fishermencanfishintheselakesandselltheircatchtotheschool.