KALOMO district commissioner, Joshua Sikaduli says operational challenges facing learning institutions pose a threat to the delivery of quality education to pupils.
Mr. Sikaduli made the remarks after touring three learning institutions in Kalomo yesterday to appreciate the challenges such institutions are facing to effectively deliver quality education to the learners.
He was informed that most schools have inadequate classrooms alongside receiving erratic grants and experience short supply of water in most township learning institutions.
Kalomo secondary boarding school head teacher, Rex Nalubamba appealed for the completion of the school wall fence to avert constant break ins by thieves to the pupils dormitories with Mwaata day secondary school registering for the completions of a 200 bed capacity girls dormitory which has taken years to be completed due to lack of sponsors, putting girl learners renting in the nearby compounds at risk for sexual abuse.
Mukwela youth skills training centre of Kalomo also registered its displeasure for the continued wrangle between the institution and the local community over its land ownership.
The training institution offering skills to the youth says its parent ministry is geared to put up a fully-fledged institute but the persistent land wrangle has hampered its progression to that stage. The centre offers general agriculture, food production, metal fabrication, power electrical, tailoring, bricklaying and carpentry and auto mechanics.
However, the institution has no transport forcing the centre to transport its production unit produce in ox carts for sale to town.
“Imagine, we have no transport, we take our produce in ox carts for sale to raise money to cater for our auxiliary staff who are not on government payroll and to sustain the operations of the centre,” centre director, Sylvester Singani told the Kalomo district commissioner during his tour of the institution.
When you talk of free education, you must also look at the quality of this free education. Even now our schools are almost free but parents..many of them…opt take their children to very expensive private schools. It’s only the poorest of the poor who will use these goverment schools. Those who make it to higher education are either naturally bright, hard working or they can afford private tuition ( by the same teachers from these free schools).
They cannot even cut the grass where the name plaque stands. Welcome to Zambian local government.
You know and understand your challenges, water supply is a necessity and should be basic. Therefore, enabling sanitation at schools should be the basic and core usage of the CDF budget from next year. So Mr. Commissioner, ensure the Kolomo issue is FIXED by end of 2022, it’s your responsibility and you will be supported via CDF. Report back in November 2022, as we want to hear positive results. And plaque stands would be surrounded with flowers, painted and looking fresh.
@Deja Vu – what’s your point – are you saying teachers deliberately under perform in government schools..? Please educate me – thanks
#plant a tree now please!