The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) has said the celebration of the day of the African child calls for serious introspection and commitment towards addressing the numerous challenges facing children across the continent.
ZANEC Executive Director George Hamusunga described the day of the African Child as a time when stakeholders should reflect on the gains that have been made and the challenges faced since the adoption of the agenda 2040, whose main objective is to have an Africa that is fit for children.
Mr. Hamusunga said there is need to promote the dignity of the African child through assessing the achievements and challenges faced towards the effective implementation of the African Children’s charter.
He said ZANEC was pleased to join the rest of the world in commemorating the day of the African Child which fell yesterday, June 16, 2021.
The day of the African Child was instituted in memory of the 16th June 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa, who protested against the poor quality of education they were receiving.
“At that time, students marched in protest against the poor quality of education they received and demanded to be taught in their languages. Therefore this day serves to commemorate these children and the brave action they took in defense of their right to education,” he said.
Section 6 of the African charter continental framework for advancing children’s rights and aspiration states that every child must benefit fully from quality education.
Mr. Hamusunga said access to quality education in Africa, including Zambia, is of great importance as education is a fundamental human right that should be accessible to every child regardless of gender, colour, tribe, race and ability.
He has however express sadness at the negative impact of Covid-19 on education, which has worsened the lack of access to education by most children, coupled with the long closure of schools in 2020 due to the pandemic.
He has therefore called for schools not to close prematurely but rather tighten the Covid-19 prevention and mitigation measures in schools in order to sustain learning in the country.
Mr. Hamusunga also said funding to the education sector should not be reduced especially during the Covid-19 era when the sector needs to acquire more resources and human resource to contain the virus.
“In this era of Covid-19, more resources are needed to build more classes and buy more desks that would allow for social distancing, deploy more teachers to allow for learning in small groups, purchase of prevention materials such as washing soaps, sanitizers, hand washing basins, and masks for vulnerable learners,” he said.
Mr. Hamusunga has further called for more innovative but safer ways to ensure continued learning for learners with special education needs, whom he said are more affected.
The theme for this year’s commemoration is ‘30 years after the adoption of the Charter: accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2040 for an Africa fit for children’.
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