By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE-
CHIMWEMWE Mvula, 15, was in Grade Seven when she decided to drop out of school and get married to her 17-year-old lover at Lottie Village in Chief Mwase’s chiefdom in Lundazi District in Eastern Province.
The girl, who was pregnant at the time, had become frustrated by poverty and economic hardship that made her family fail to pay school fees for her.
However, owing to the introduction of free education, Chimwemwe was this year given an opportunity to return to school after a local advocacy group, working with the police, retrieved her from the marriage.
“They reported me and the man I was living with to a local organisation that looks into issues of children and women. The case was reported to the police and later to court which ruled that the marriage should be dissolved and we both return to school,” Chimwemwe said in a recent interview.
She praised Government for the introduction of the free education policy that she said has given her a lifeline to pursue her academic dream of becoming a nurse.
Chimwemwe, who said education is important for everyone, believes that social vices like early marriages are not going to provide any solutions to challenges facing the country.
Before the Government introduced the free education policy this year, Chimwemwe was just one among the thousands of girls and boys of school-going age who had been denied education owing to the inability of their families to afford school fees.
They were a forgotten generation that faced a bleak future marred by early marriages, teen pregnancies and intergenerational poverty.
However, on October 29, 2021, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane announced the introduction of the free education policy by the Government in his national Budget presentation to Parliament.
This was one of the campaign promises made by the United Party for National Development (UPND) prior to the August 12, 2021 presidential and general elections.
“Government has also set aside funds to provide free education by paying school fees in all public schools for all learners at early childhood, primary and secondary education levels,” Dr Musokotwane said in his address to Parliament.
The introduction of free education, which was implemented in January this year, was designed to increase access to quality education among school children and youths of school going age.
The introduction of the free education policy was part of measures that were aimed at improving human and social conditions in the 2022 Budget modeled under the theme; ‘Growth, Jobs and Taking Development Closer to the People.’
“The New Dawn administration believes that education is the greatest equaliser,” said Dr Musokotwane who also announced that the Government would construct an additional 120 secondary schools to increase access to education in the country.
This was going to be achieved through a concessional loan signed with the World Bank under the Zambia Education Enhancement Project.
The loan is payable over 30 years.
Since the free education policy was introduced, schools have been overwhelmed by the positive response of communities which have seen the need to send children to school.
The free education policy has brought hope to thousands of children and youths whose dreams would have been lost as a result of their inability to afford school fees.
Because of the free education policy, various regions of the country have been reporting enrolment of thousands of school children and youths who are taking advantage of the policy which has made education not to be a preserve of the privileged.
In North Western Province, at least 4,700 pupils have gone back to school after the Government introduced free education.
Other regions have reported even higher figures.
At the beginning of July, Northern Province reported that 45,000 pupils have been re-admitted back to school following the introduction of the free education policy.
This was announced at a Northern Province performance review meeting held at Kasama Boys Secondary School on June 30, 2022.
Copperbelt is another region that has seen a surge in school enrolment.
In June, Copperbelt Provincial Education Board Secretary Stephen Chishiko said the introduction of free education has created an increase in the number of learners from 756,299 recorded in January 2021 to 800,288 in January 2022.
This represents an upsurge of 40,000 learners.
Dr Chishiko said owing to the rise in school enrolment, schools in the region are faced with a serious deficit of desks, classroom space and low numbers of teachers.
He said the Government had put up remedial measures to facilitate the implementation of free education even before the long term plans were initiated.
Dr Chishiko further noted that the Government has increased grants for primary and secondary schools in order to uphold the quality of education standards.
It is obvious that besides Northern, North Western and Copperbelt provinces mentioned above, other regions have equally seen thousands of pupils being re-admitted back into school owing to the introduction of the free education policy.
In dealing with some of the teething problems created by the introduction of the policy, the Government, in July this year, completed the recruitment of over 30,000 teachers across the country to handle the increased school enrolment.
K1.7 billion had been set aside for the teacher recruitment in the 2022 Budget while an additional K2.2 billion was provided for general operations of schools across the country in the education sector.
The teacher recruitment was one of the measures meant to increase access to education, improve the quality of education provision while promoting equal opportunities for girls, learners with disabilities and the vulnerable.
Additionally, the Government provided K4 billion to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), of which K3.2 billion was meant for development interventions in underserved communities in all constituencies.
An additional K792.0 million was allocated to secondary school and skills development bursaries for underprivileged youths to access skills training.
Besides building the additional 120 secondary schools alluded to earlier, the Government allocated K694.3 million for the construction and completion of ongoing school infrastructure.
All this had been achieved within the first year of the UPND in office.
The over enrolment in schools and the shortage of required facilities to accommodate every pupil has demonstrated a thirst for education that had previously gone unmet for years.
It has also highlighted the many pupils who had been denied the opportunity to get educated.
These are the pupils whom Government now has a duty to plan for as it charts the way forward.
Providing free education is part of efforts meant to build an equitable future where all children and young people have the same opportunity to develop different skills, pursue their interests and contribute to the economy.
“This all begins with quality education and good teachers,” said President Hakainde Hichilema on his Facebook page.
Introduction of free education has given chance to Chimwemwe and thousands of others like her to access education and become the nurses, engineers, doctors, contractors and farmers whom this country dearly needs to change its fortunes.