To give you a better reality of the education situation in Zambia, I offer you a segment I call the truth behind the numbers. According to the Millennium Development Goals Progress Report 2008, Zambia is likely to meet Goal 2 in providing universal primary education. In my humble opinion, this will not be a reality. While Zambia has shown increases in two of the three indicators for this goal (percentage of children in school and grade seven completion percentage), the percentages for the third indicator, literacy rates, has decreased. How are we supposed to say that we are likely to meet the goal when a crucial indicator, literacy, is decreasing in the 15 to 24 age bracket? The government may counter that because more students are completing grade seven the literacy rates will increase.
But literacy rates will not increase if there are still inadequate facilities, lack of teacher training, and discrepancies in resource allocation. Even if the student “completes” grade seven, if they have learned nothing it is an absolute waste and will not help the literacy rates climb. The government is good at making claims of addressing these issues, but their action leaves much to be desired. As I have observed and read, the government policy statements are not being fulfilled. This is an issue of justice because the government is not lacking in their fulfillment of government schools promises, but they are lacking in their fulfillment of community schools promises. Again, the orphans and vulnerable children get the proverbial shaft because they can not afford to go to community schools. Don’t think that educational inequality is only present in Zambia. It is present in America as well. Look at the funding structures for public education or the concentration of quality teachers.
The reason that I write this post is because I just finished writing a letter to the Minister of Education inviting her to come and speak at our “Stand Up and Take Action Campaign” Event in October. I found another strong point in my argument, the literacy levels; therefore, I am excited about the prospect of this event and her participation. Please pray that the Minister of Education accepts our invitation to speak. Don’t worry I phrased the letter very kindly and did not express my true opinions of their lack of follow through. At the same time I told her that we are going to be having a celebration of Zambia’s accomplishments. It is only going to be a celebration with some truth telling thrown in. It should be fun.
Those issues really get me going. They are abusing the data to make themselves look good to the Western world. This is a two way street though because the Western world does not understand the system here and does not care to understand it. They only want to place expectations without getting their hands dirty. They also want success stories to make it look like their money is well spent. Those are some major stereotypes and generalizations I know. There are exceptions to the generalizations.
I step off my soapbox now. Sorry about the lack of updates recently. Expect a new post soon concerning life in general. Peace!
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