GENERAL Education Minister David Mabumba says the Government has in the last eight years made significant investment in the education sector.
Mr Mabumba said Government had in the last eight years constructed over 115 secondary schools, ten colleges and eight university colleges across the country.
He said over a short period of time, the PF Government had demonstrated its commitment to effectively transform the education system in the country.
The minister said this when he addressed delegates attending the World
Bank’s International Development Association (IDA)18 high level midterm review meeting at Avani Hotel in Livingstone.
He said Government was also in the process of transforming the teacher recruitment and employment process in order to address the needs of specific learning institutions.
He said the current recruitment process was not focused on the needs of a particular school.
Mr Mabumba said his ministry would in the coming year embark on a strategic mode of transformation for all departments under the ministry.
He said next year, his ministry would focus on the local production of books and school furniture as a way of transforming the education sector and ensuring that operational lacunas were addressed.
“We are trying to look at the supply chain for the procurement of our teaching and learning material, to see how we can transform this sector to ensure that the operational lacunas are addressed,” Mr Mabumba said.
He said most institutions of higher learning in the country had the capacity to make school furniture and other learning materials.
He said Government was more than determined to achieve the target set by the World Bank, where Zambia is expected to have 832 schools by the year 2022.
He called for community participation and involvement in the construction of low cost design secondary schools.