jctr.org.zm - Quarterly Bulletin; Bulletin 67

Despite introducing free primary education for all in Zambia, many poor people are not able to go to school and even when they begin to go to school, they drop out on the way because of the many other requirements like books, clean clothes, a school that is near, contributions to the school and nutrition. These were clearly highlighted in a JCTR policy brief of 2006 on how free the free primary education is. John Banda affirms JCTR’s finding that poverty makes it difficult for persons to be educated.

I borrowed this title from one of the studies that was done by JCTR sometime in 2006 and have seriously reflected on it.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “the question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child’s education but whether we can afford not to.” I am one person who grew up in an environment where my parents could not afford to invest in my education.

My dad, even without knowing about the above saying by Mahatma Gandhi, could not afford to see me uneducated. What my dad did was just to assure me that he would try whatever means to make sure that I got educated. So there was a mutual agreement between dad and me. My dad did not afford to invest in my education up to university but because of his commitment to seeing me get educated, a lot of people came in to help me. That is how I managed to get educated.

Realizing how a lot of people, starting from Government, to relatives and friends, helped me get my education, I felt I owe it to the nation. So I decided to go into the academia so I could repay a bit what the Lord has done for me. My lecturing at a College has given me an opportunity to talk to a large number of young people every day. I always take some time during my class to motivate the students and help them to have a big vision for their lives. As a result, my students have been performing very well (above 75% pass rate). In my class, it is not just about class work and assignments; it is also about them realizing their contribution to the nation, especially in the fight against poverty.

In August this year after one of the prayer meeting with former Copperbelt University (CBU) Catholic students, I felt the urge to go to my village and proclaim the word of God as well as and encourage my family to educate their children. I prepared for a journey and invited dad to escort me so he could show me some of the relatives. This mission had three objectives: (1) To be in prayer and reflection, (2) to preach the Word of God to my family members and other people and (3) to give motivational talks, encourage family members to take children to school and make contacts for future Missions.

What I had in mind when leaving for the village was that my main preoccupation would be to preach the word of God and just a bit of encouragement on education. I actually found myself talking more about education and less of Jesus. This is because of the situation I found in the village. A lot of young people do not go to school despite government having brought schools closer to villages.

Some parents when asked why they did not take their children to school responded that even if they go to school they won’t afford to pay for their secondary school fees. Others said they wanted to earn cattle. So they send their male children in the age range of 6 to 10 years to work as cattle shepherds. The pay, after serving for four years, is a head of cattle. During this time the children can’t go to school. I bemoaned the fact these children are having their future traded with a cow. Just imagine!

I told these parents that the cow can easily die when there is an outbreak of diseases. Besides, the child’s future is too precious to be traded for a cow. Dad also bought into my vision and started telling his friends and relatives about the importance of encouraging their children to go to school. For him he even had an example. He could easily point at me as a reward of educating children. Am sure he has continued even back home in Ndola.

The climax of my mission was when I addressed about 300 grade 12 and 9 pupils at Chadiza Secondary School in Eastern Province of Zambia. I talked to them on the theme dubbed “Your career should be determined by you and not by your results.” This was a motivation talk with emphasis on the need for them to identify their purpose in life and develop challenging, selfless visions and then channel their energy to this vision. I asked some of them what they wanted to be. Most of them indicated they would like to be teachers or nurses. I realized this is because teachers and nurses are the ones they interact with most of the time. I mentioned to them that there are many more careers out there. So, there is need to enlighten these people about the many things that they can do in life. At the end of the presentation, the pupils with the help of their career guidance teacher developed a motto which is “Never give up!” they resolved never to give up but to go on living and achieve greater things despite the circumstances.

Concerning secondary school, one thing I observed was that school fees for secondary schools children have become a nightmare. Some parents would even pray that their children fail and stay at home and never worry about school fees. Yes in the short run they will have peace but in long run they will suffer because their children cannot be self reliant. At this point I asked the question, “Will the poor go to school?” I doubt if they will because even the villagers' main source of income – maize sales, cannot find market. Farmers struggle to get farming inputs such as seeds and fertilizer. Nowadays they also struggle to sell their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) because of the so many challenges they face. There is nothing that is as frustrating as failing to find market for your produce after working hard to produce it.

Government has set the floor price for maize at K65, 000 per 50 kg. FRA only buys 10 bags per family 20 bags to the most. Where does Government expect the farmers to sell the rest of their maize? In the end they end up selling their produce to the so-called briefcase traders. That is the only alternative. These briefcase traders would buy the maize at as low as K35, 000 per 50 kg. The poor farmer will lose K30, 000 per 50 kg. This would have gone a long way in meeting the school children’s expenses. A lot of people were stuck with the maize and the briefcase buyers take advantage of this.

The President on his arrival for Kulamba Ceremony in September 2009 announced that Government had released a supplementary budget for FRA to buy the maize. I am pretty sure this amount will just go to briefcase buyers because it is rather late. People have needs and cannot keep on waiting for Government when there are people who readily offer them cash even though it is at a lower price. Government will think it has bought maize from the farmers and yet it has bought from briefcase buyers. This is very possible.

With this situation it is very difficult for the poor to go to school. But the question should not be whether we can afford to invest in every child’s education. It should be about whether we can afford not to. For me I have decided that I will help as many people as I can per year to get education. I will not look at costs. I will look at the need for these people to go to school. For some, I will pay for their school fees while for others, I will just need to encourage them or their sponsors. I will also continue with my mission of visiting schools and parishes to encourage young people to go to school. You can play a part, be it advocacy, networking or setting up a small family bursary. Of late, I have seen many people becoming more selfless and concerned about creating the future by investing in education. Together we can educate the nation!

John Suzyo Banda
National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA)
Lusaka, Zambia

Quarterly Bulletin

Bulletin 81 3rd Quarter 2009