Thursday, March 28, 2024

Government to re-introduce compulsory national youth service for school-leavers countrywide

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Youth and Sports Minister Chishimba kambwili reads a speech during the Youth day celebrations in Lusaka
Youth and Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili

GOVERNMENT will next year re-introduce compulsory national youth service skills training for school-leavers at Zambia National Service (ZNS) camps countrywide, Parliament heard yesterday.

But the programme will not incorporate the rigorous military training aspect. The focus will just be on imparting various entrepreneurial skills in youths.

Minister of Youth and Sport Chishimba Kambwili told Parliament that the training will be conducted in the 81 districts of the country over 18 months and will focus on training youths in various entrepreneurial skills.

Mr Kambwili announced the development in response to a question by Bahati member of Parliament (MP) Harry Kalaba (PF) who wanted to know the plans Government has for youth development.

This was during the question for oral answer session. Mr Kambwili said once Cabinet approves the plan, Government will allocate funds in next year’s budget for the programme. He said ZNS camps will be renovated and instructors to train the youths will be engaged.

Mr Kambwili said Government has decided to re-introduce the programme as the current number of colleges and universities in the country cannot absorb all school leavers. He said Government wants to ensure that all youths acquire survival skills in the event that some of them do not enroll in tertiary learning institutions.

The minister said all school leavers will be enrolled in ZNS training camps regardless of the region they will have come from. Mr Kambwili was responding to a follow-up question by Sesheke Central MP Siyauya Sianga (UPND) who asked about the criteria that will be used to enroll school leavers in the ZNS training camps.

And Mr Kambwili expressed disappointment at Nalikwanda MP Geoffrey Lungwangwa (MMD) who said the compulsory training for youths will infringe on the rights of school leavers to choose what they would want to do.

The minister said he is disappointed that a legislator can be against a programme which will improve the welfare of youths. He said Government’s goal is to integrate the youth in development and that Government will also construct at least a vocational training centre in each district.

Mr Kambwili said Government will also facilitate the construction of recreational facilities and micro-financing institutions to enable youths to easily access finances.

“To demonstrate its commitment to youth development, K50 billion has been allocated in this year’s budget for youth skills development compared to K30 billion provided in the 2011 budget,” he said.

86 COMMENTS

  1. GOOD GESTURE BUT TRY TO IMPROVE ON HOW IT WAS DONE IN THE FIRST REPUBLIC MAY BE IT WILL HELP MANY ZAMBIANS.

    • wansekesha pantu ndi mubemba but I agree with you. Batwikapofye umutwe pamubili. But regardless of his enormous, no voluptious head, he’s talking sense in as rare a moment as he has been. 

  2. It must not be compulsory cz i know the conditions will be pathetic. They ll be over crowded like in prisons and subjected to bad food.. They are failing to maintain schs, prisons ans hospitals n the existing ZNS camps so expect the worst.

  3. The poor have finally been fixed. Their life cycle will be now confined to cabbage production, carpentry or village shoe making, while the well off will educate their offspring in premium institutions and perpetuate the status quo!

    • Equality for all.Only those with the best results will leave the camps.The same practice is found in Switzerland.Before a student goes to college ,he or she has to acqure certain skills.

  4. there ar alot of youth who av jst completd grad12 but furtha study is dificot sam end up being criminoz so i this mov by gvt wil wait nd see how it help thos who cannot afod to pay 4 their fetha study.

  5. Wait a minute, I can afford to educate my kids and I don’t want them going to National Service. This program must NOT be compulsory. Please cabinet, shoot down the compulsory aspect of this program. It is a good thing for the majority of our citizens who cannot afford to pay for their education, but this should not infringe on our rights to choose what we want to do in life, if we can afford to.

    • my friend, it will be part of the education system and your children will have no choice but to go for it, here in China that’s how it works. we cannot set a society where the rich are exempted from doing what ordinary people do. 

    • You are right. Much as it’s a good idea, it should not impinge on few zambians who can afford to send their children to college/university. Doing so will be infringing on the right to choose what one wants in life. Good move though.

  6. I guess I have to repeat what most seem to be asking. Why compulsory? It sounds good and all but this is not the colonial era. Lets be smart about it. This has a potential of being a great program.   

  7. This is the way to go. If carefully implemented, the program can help even the youth that are currently on the streets. Take some notes from China. I am beginning to think PF is a listening government. We all share the concerns and the plight of the youth. All well meaning Zambians will support this program because the youth are the most important ‘assets’ of any given nation. The youth are a reservoir of knowledge and a beacon of hope; therefore the government should do everything possible to protect and nature this untapped potential.

  8. The scheme to be successful, you need to offer skills that are relevant to the development of the country.

    Skills that will encourage graduates to setup cottage industries and small businesses rather than vie for employment.

  9. After the skillz training wat happnz to the youths..?? Do they become Government workers or Back to the Street as “skilld unemployed youths”. Becoz i know of many UNZA , CBU and other College graduates who have been searchin 4 Jobs for years and years. Does this Program solve the current unemploymnt issues or wat…

  10. Start with pilot scheme. See how it works or how WASTEFUL it will be and whether we can afford it or not. Why should it be compulsory? Are we in a police state? It has to be optional. Another point where in the World has such a model worked? What models are the Asian tigers using? The next thing after the entreprenual training the youths will be asking for GRZ loans to setup businesses. Where will the money come from and how free will it from political abuse and misuse by the recepients as the case was with CEEC

  11. This idea is a disaster from zero. If think the amount of effort needed to collect youths from the whole of Zambia into concentration camps, for whoever knows what benefit, makes this whole programme unsustainable. I personally would not go to this place, and I would not allow my children to go within 40 miles of any of them.
    GRZ should not panic over job creation. What we are seeing in Zambia are birth pains. Rome was not built in a day. We still have a long way to go. Let government set up brainstorming sessions around the country to find ways of creating wealth for our people. The idea of concentration camps is a non-starter. Honorable Kambwili …. next plan please.

    • it is a shame that the goverment subtlety  want to use the poor as labour to benefit the 1%. They have totally run out ideas and need fresh young genuine brains to govern. 

    • Probably you were born after both the Zambia Youth Service and Zambian National Service programs for school leavers where in effect. No wonder the disparity in survival skills because people that almost everyone that went through these human skills program are able to fend for themselves and rarely look for “utubale.” Ukulomba ubupe ninchito ya mpofu ne filema, and not able bodied human beings because even among the handicapped, there are a whole lot of them who are self reliant and who actually employ able bodied people.

  12. GOvt should focus on providing a good 12 year education.Is 18 more months of indoctrination going to make youth better? The 12 years at school should be enough indoctrination PF is just afraid of an Arab spring happening in zed.PF should refrain from re-introducing failed policy. At first it was a national airline now this.Govt should get out of the way of people that is the road to success .teach people to think and then get out of their way. 

  13. this is proper fire fighting using old fire engine. While  as Zambians we need entrepreneurship training, I doubt whether the 18 months national service training is the answer. The issue of entrepreneurship and survival skills need to be incorporated in the whole curriculum from grade one to twelve. In the 1980’s primary and secondary school included courses like metal work and woodwork and we also taught agric skills

    • You could be right but what do you  with those grade 12s completing next year and a few more years thereafter whose current school curriculum does not include survival skills? Do the have to wait until these skills have been incorporated into the school curriculum? I believe it is rewarding to start now with the current school leavers while planning to do what you are proposing for the future.

  14. Well the idea may good but alot of ground work needed to be done. ZNS camps in their current form may not have all the needed facilities to manage the program.Huge sums are money are required for feeding,dressing and other logistics for the trainees which can not be put in place overnight. It could be nice if the Minister also told the nation the sucess if any,that ZNS camps have scored in training of street kids which they had started. The problem of youth unemployment requires serious analysis. This ZNS idea may not be viable. It never worked in the past and may now work now.

  15. Government is failing to maintain the existing structures at institutions of learning and yet they want to extablish these skills training centres. I am certain that these training camps will be operating under terrible conditions for the youths. There will be a shortage of equipment and trained staff, and I can only imagine what the diet and sanitation will be like. This thing must be opposed and should not be compulsory.

  16. This sounds like making Trade school compulsory… or alternatively developing community college and imposing it as regulatory on all school leavers. I believe we need a few more details before we can really see the sense in this. National Service is mainly of a military/defense nature, not a self-service skills acquisition!!

  17. The move may be ok but making it compulsory goes against the principles of democracy, unless we want 2 revert 2 an authoritarian type of rule. Also does govt have sufficient resources 2 pursue this huge undertaking? In the kaunda days the state had more resources coupled with a small population. This tym its the opposite. Am foreseeing low success in this.

  18. I strongly second that and it has been long overdue. This has the potential to instil discipline in the youngsters and that can only be a good thing. A similar programme for street kids, though with a different emphasis should be considered (if not already). I hope the announcement will be followed by a thorough assessment by govt of all the ZNS centres for their suitability to progressive programmes. We shouldn’t just be sending the kids for the sake of it; they should come out of it with some valuable skills and knowledge which would benefit them and the nation at large. The announcement is welcome; now show us the next step!

  19. And who pays for this? When you look at some of these policies being implemented by this gov’t, one would be forgiven for thinking we are a developed country…these are just old UNIPist policies, they likes of Greece had these selfsame policies of national service look where they are today.  

    • Borther when you are start a project, you first put pen to paper before you worry about who’s going to pay for it. It’s called planning. Even when you were planning to be whoever you are, the least thing on your mind was how will I do it. All you did was formulate a plan first and the rest is history.

  20. this is not a communist socialist republic. it should not be compulsory. but i think the majority youths will benefit

  21. Who are to go for national service programme? Because we have grade 7, grade 9 and grade 12 leavers.The idea is good but the issue of obligatory without categorize its making it a bit hard to understand. The minister should define who are to go for national service programme male or female, by grades or by age.

  22. The idea is good but it will fail because our PF is very disoriented when it comes to planning and Organizing CNP!!!!. they should have started with renovating all the camps and putin all the basic facilities in place. Who is going to teach the youths??? and where are they going to work Afterwards????. People who steal cables at Nchanga mine are very educated, they steal coz they are self employeed!!!  We have a lot of unanswered Questions here.

  23. Selective service like the American’s call it, anyway In America any male below the age of 21or atleast 21 is by law required to go to selective service or atleast register for it, weather you are a citizen or legal immigrant you required to go. So may be even our government should come up with age limit and not just target school leavers but also involve school drop outs.Otherwise not a bad idea.

    • For Selective Service you are not subjected into a military camp for 18 months if there is no need for it. I am registered and have never been called for anything. registration is compulsory, but call for service is only when there is need for it. So dont compare it with a compulsory living in a ZNS camp growing cabbages for 18 months.

  24. Rubbish. We are suppose to be talking science and technology not this rubbish. Survival skills are taught in colleges too if this chimbwi doesn’t knw. Colleges and hospitals are ill funded, how will this be possible

  25. After they finish watering the cabbages, they will be given guns to shoot. PF is planning to turn your children into young militants

  26. Like many i think it should not be compusory let those that feel the need after finnishing school join and those that dont let them do as they wish. If you say it is non military they what makes you think everyone will want those skills?? there is boy scouts and cadets already in school unless you just want to extent the learning by another 18 months thats fair.

    But please dont forget this is another cost to government who still need to provide for the universities

  27. These CPNs are just dreaming during the day, just give them one year and half, when that time comes, they will U-Turn. These are clever way of keeping the poor with good results out of decent college and university places so that they can get there children with poor results. Lets think out of the box before we are duped.

  28. During our time, there was a cholera outbreak at Mansa national service. The instructors were proposing the girls if you refuse you ended up being punished. The meals, the beans not well prepared, the shima with lumps ohh everithing was horrible. I thank God all my last child finished grade 12 last year.

  29. Compulsory National Youth Service for an entire shoot of school leavers in a given year to give desired outcome is a BIG undertaking that requires thinking thru, consistence in thought and vision, planning, infrastructure, trained and experienced instructors, adequate logistics, and above all the acquired skills must be demand driven in the first place. Going by the clear lack of planning and inconsistence the PF Govt have shown so far, this scale of undertaking is definitely beyond their current capacity.    

  30. COMPULSORY!!! This is ridiculous! Shaa!!! It’s like saying you are going to jail our kids for a period of time whether they like it or not. Even Grade 12 education is not compulsory so how do you force individuals to go for some programme. Maybe put it as a requirement to those who need government funding for there businesses but not for kids who do well in the Grade 12 exams. This is getting more ridiculous by the day. I’m now convinced that the PF government had no plan for the youth. They are learning on the job. Just as bad as, if not worse than, the so-called “under 5” (no experience).

  31. This is a very good program except it should not be compulsory, as doing so will even affect those children whose parents can afford to send them to either college or university. There ought to be an option to exempt such school leavers. And most important, before it’s even embarked on, the ZNS training camps ought to be renovated and upgraded to human standards and not the current state they are in. And instead of bringing in military personnel to teach, how about recalling former ZCCM instructors from the trade schools because even then, we had what was called Curriculum Skills Development (CSD) programs in basically anything one can think of. More employment opportunities and more career skills imparted, a win-win situation.

  32. y does it not contain the military training we need to learn how to defend our country coz bigger wars are coming involving congo rwanda uganda over the kivu province and we will be affected one way or the other get informed minister

  33. Mugabe started this same programe in Zim in 2000. Sice then there have been ruthless, brainwashed militia running around the country in the name of ‘National Service’ gradutes. Do we as Zambians not see where we are being led? Ban dollar, national service, implimentation of undiscussed statutary instruments. Wake up Zambians! We will be Zim extension by end of next year!

  34. Zambia wake up before we go into big problems, No compulsary is needed, otherwise Zambia will be turned into a force labour, In the name of Jesus, no more slaverly where school levers like girls and boys who have no passion to be forced to do it, if they really want it, let us start with his honorable and be the gud example by going through the training before the youths do so!

  35. Mr Minister, Start with a pilot project, for instance select some towns and lets see how it works. For everybody to get there is also an issue because some of the people may not be ready to send their children to such program. Another problem which may arise is corruption, where an official misappropriates the money for food for the youth and they go hungry and run away. How do you deal with corruption?

    Overall good idea but need some brainstorming and detailed assessment.

  36. Mwalesa wesu afweni ichalo chaZed. Making it compulsory is what makes it a failure. Therr are nothe resources be it financiala nor manpower. What skillsmakes are cnps talking abt? God forbid.

  37. Half baked ideas always. Could the money not be better spent by improving provision in colleges around the country? If we have so many qualified instructors in ZNS, why can’t we just transfer them to institutions of learning? Having courses locally would mean that students would stay at home and attend a local college.

  38. Compulsory definetly NO voluntary definetly YES. Bwana minister this is no mean undertaking. This requires a lot of cash and I do not think our treasury can afford this. Why train people in skills they will not use? Please remove the notion that the opposition is out to derail government programs. Personally I feel Proffessor Lungwangwa’s point should be explored further. It is very valid. Maybe the use of ‘infringing on rights’ ruffled Hon Kambwili’s feathers but it is a very progressive point. The government will save money by opting for voluntary as opposed to compulsory

  39. I suppose the former government had empower youths in this way too. Let this proposal implemented because  many school leavers have nowhere to go,Personally, with impressive  results but due to high rates of payments in many institutions i m nothing. Hopefully no descrimination or nepotism but equally our future will be bright and zambians will benefit from their trainings plus skills.

  40. Brilliant idea, I must say … 81 districts with immediate human capital conducting economic activities such as farming, carpentry, masonry, metal work, construction, automotive mechanics, etc offering free two years of labor while developing high quality products is simply a brilliant idea.

    With free education, the national service can also be considered as a time the school leavers honored their country for the education it freely gave but that’s another topic for a different subject matter all together.

    This program has the ability to immediately sack up potential new entrant youths in unemployment and delays dormancy for close to two years and while using similar devised regressive means would create new programs for those already outside its framework.

  41. Continued … this is not a stopgap measure; that is why it has the potential for success if well implemented. Israel and China are the two success stories around the world with these programs. We need to enlist their experts right now.

    In fact, if I were President, I would send Kambwili on official visits to these two countries with his full team to hire the best of their best expertise to work along side us as we implement it among the smart people of the Zambian Enterprise.

    Let us look at some areas such as that of farming at each of these 81 centers for 18 months. The youths can grow all sorts of fruits from grapes, oranges, bananas, peaches, apples, etc for immediate export to the European Union, Asia and Middle East, for instance.

  42. Continued … I was in Zurich a month or so ago and one apple cost CH?2.00 on the street and so did a banana.  I like to look at things like that whenever I am abroad. At today’s rate, that is US$2.05.

    So imagine, making a cool US$30.00 per bunch since there are approximately 14 bananas per bunch once exported to Switzerland and that is just two products. Each banana plant produces at least four bunches a season, with half a million plants you have a half a billion dollar a year industry, just like that.

    The price for oranges was about the same in Dubai/Jordan last time I was there and with the Emirates making 5 flights a week to Lusaka, KLM flying three times a week or so, we already have logistical means for freighting these horticultural products to markets abroad.

  43. Continued … Our own new Zambia Airways Cargo (part of the soon to be created national carrier) would also play a huge row especially for new destinations such as New York while taking advantage of programs such as those currently in place for AGOA.

    Let us take grapes, for instance … with strategic involvement from the Italians/French/Aussie, new wineries would mushroom in areas like Luapula (our own new Napa Valley), Central, Lusaka, Northwestern, parts of Southern and Eastern Province.

    This is another untapped lucrative secondary processing (value-added) franchise having enormous export potential with almost zero labor costs from these school leavers. With carpentry skills, a completely new industry in wood works with furniture built in world-class fashion would emerge.

  44. Continued … Using an alumnus system that can track success while placing these new entrepreneurs under the small business administration supervision of some sort would not only spur employment and other potential derivatives these ventures have but also due to their new hands-on approach skills acquired, the youths would create a new Zambian technocracy.

    Pretty soon, we will be importing manual labor as this new breed of Zambians find themselves with new market for their skills. For instance, individual entrepreneurs the majority of whom have no college education create 75% of all formal employment in the United States. Only  85.2%, had finished high school and nearly a quarter, 22%, had earned a Bachelor’s degree and a parity 2% of Americans held Master’s and PhD degrees by 2005.

  45. Continued …  Over all, I must add that I am equally impressed with the level of debate on this issue from both sides. From those who oppose it, I would only ask one thing … what is it that you are suggesting should be done in its stead that should meet our two pronged objectives of youth unemployment and skill development while using the least resources available.

    Our analyzes of these crucial issues should never lead to logical paralysis based on purely on politics … frankly speaking, I personally hate politics but I love public policy with a passion. Politics hurts people, policy helps them … all I want is my Zambia back, Zambia is greater than any single one of us.

  46. We really suffered under the uneducated instructors during our military training on the so called Devil’s Island (Kasama Military camp). With this new generation it will be really tough for them. Pre-school to Grade 12 under the care of parents!!!!!

  47. IMWE THIS PROGRAME WAS THERE DURING KAUNDA.
    THE MINISTER SAYS MILITARY TRAINING WILL NOT BE MUCH INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAME.
    HE HAS ALSO SAID THE PROGRAMME & COLLEGES WILL BE UPGRADED/RENOVATED SO EVEN THE TRAINING SHOULD NOT BE LIKE THOSE OF KAUNDA.
    GOOD MOVE!!

  48. Bullali helo ba malyongo! Bamene bakudya food uku ku mulayini, bamene bakudya special diet uku. I hope it will not be a big cash drain for the govt without corresponding benefits. Make sure they do not learn smoking matokwani/mbanje/lubanje but come with useful skills.

  49. This type of reasoning in 2012??? This is utterly retrogressive to subject young people to unnecessary delays to academic and professional progression. All these ‘skills’ are already offered in trade schools. Not every child needs to learn how to water cabbage, wash swine ears or sew a doormat. Some kids are cut out to engage in top scientific research, some to teach, others to make a shomeka and still others to professionally swirl some chibuku while listening to well remunerated top notch musicians. Such should be the diversity of life and free will. Only failed or evil leaders with ulterior motives of indoctrinating the youth would advocate for camps that have been a failure of humanity in the yesteryears.

  50. I can see defilement and weed being given an extra chance in Zambia with these Hitler…Sata Camps. Only advantage I can think of maybe is the kids will learn to exercise and avoid carrying big fatty heads of the sort Hon Kambwili sports on his hefty shoulders.

  51. not for all pliz it will kill our dreams an we might just become criminoz with all that military thing this is not the time of hitler an musolini .make it for those who get above 30 points pliz pliz we ar on our nez

  52. I was more than happy to find this net-site.I needed to thanks to your time for this excellent learn!! I definitely enjoying each little bit of it and I’ve you bookmarked to check out new stuff you weblog post.

  53. This is STUPIDITY… Some of us,i believe have better dreams for our lives n the big,fat,no neck monster wants to shatter them…get a life n u send ur children to national not me!! And the Compulsury issue….BULLSHIT!!!

  54. I used to be suggested this website by my cousin. I am now not positive whether this publish is written by him as nobody else recognize such specified approximately my trouble. You’re amazing! Thank you!

  55. I think it’s a good idea but why compulsory?? and worse off for 18 months! what happens to those who want to go for A levels and the like?

  56. 18 months iz to much coz there peolpe like my self am already advanced in years….i did not start schooling early due to some few reasons….So the 18 months is just too much….you will not manage us, we already have plans let us decide on our own..you are just a government but not deciding for others.

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