By Henry Kyambalesa

Introduction:

In 1917, a philosopher by the name Alfred North Whitehead warned about the ill-fated destiny of a society which does not make meaningful investments in its people’s education that is perhaps truer today than it was during his time:

“In the conditions of modern life, the rule is absolute … [a nation] which does not value [education] … is doomed.”

It should, therefore, be obvious that accessible and high-quality education can be said to be the most important investment a government can make. It is not possible for any society to succeed in the pursuit of other human endeavors without adequate pools of enlightened citizens.

In general, education is among societal members’ fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26(1):

“Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional edu-cation shall be made generally available, and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”

There is clearly a need for the government to make a sustained effort to cater for the basic needs of the educational system by ensuring that schools and classrooms are adequately equipped for both teaching and learning; that every classroom has qualified, self-motivated and well-paid teachers or lecturers; and that institutions of learning have competent school administrators on competitive conditions of service and adequate office supplies and fixtures.

In the ensuing sections, I wish to comment on the government’s decision to impose the teaching of selected Zambian languages in schools from Grade 1 through Grade 4, and the creation of a Higher Education Authority.

Local Languages in Schools:

There are no tangible or conceivable benefits to the nation and/or to school-going children which are likely to accrue from the contemplated change in the language of instruction from English to a selected number of local languages for school children in Grade 1 through Grade 4.

Nationalism as an end in itself has become irrelevant in a globalizing national context. English, whether we like it or not, has become the ‘Lingua Franca’ in commerce and trade in the integrated global market for goods, services, labor, capital, and technology.

Any country that wants to compete on the global or world stage, therefore, would do well not to formally and unnecessarily subject its young citizens to a potpourri of tribal local languages.

There are many hitches associated with the contemplated change in the language of instruction in schools from English to a selected number of local languages for school children in Grade 1 through Grade 4.

1. Our beloved country has become heterogeneous in terms of tribal identities due in part to inter-marriages. There are, for example, many husbands and wives who have settled in provinces which are not their provinces of origin. Imposition of a third tribal language on such parents’ school-going children would be contemptuous.
2. foreigners in diplomatic missions and expatriates based in Zambia will have problems in finding nearby schools for their young children which will not require instruction in local languages.
3. Zambian citizens relocating to English-speaking countries to study, to work in the country’s diplomatic missions, or for other reasons, will have to enroll their young children in elementary English classes in order for such children to catch up to the level of their classmates.
4. The Zambian nation is composed of 73 distinct tribes, each one of which has a distinct language. To impose 7 local languages—that is, Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, and/or Tonga languages—on 66 of our country’s tribes and their languages would be synonymous to treating the citizens who belong to such tribes as second-class citizens.

UNIP and Dr. K. D. Kaunda kept the country united and stable for 27 consecutive years by avoiding such a controversial and divisive experiment!

And, fifthly, the proposed experiment will exacerbate the country’s deteriorating levels of literacy. By the way, a study conducted by the Southern African Consortium for Measuring Education Quality between 2007 and 2010 has placed Zambia second from the bottom out of the 15 countries in the Southern African region which were surveyed!

Higher Education Authority:

The creation of a new Higher Education Authority (HEA) to improve the quality of education and training, and to establish a national regulatory framework for education and training in the country, is, in principle, a good idea. Also, the contemplated establishment of a National Health Research Authority (NHRA) is an idea that should be supported by all well-meaning Zambians.

However, the government needs to seriously consider the prospect of creating a National Education and Training Authority (NETA)—an umbrella-kind-of authority that should be charged with the responsibility of monitoring, regulating, and bolstering the standard and quality of education and training in the country.

Such an Authority should be composed of three standing committees—that is: (a) a Standing Committee on Formal Education; (b) a Standing Committee on Tertiary Education; and (c) a Standing Committee on Health and Medical Training.

Finally, it is essential for the government to craft an educational and training regime that does not only equip the citizenry with the knowledge and skills needed in developing our country, but also one that is designed to equip each and every citizen with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the global marketplace of the 21st century.

(The author, Mr. Henry Kyambalesa, is a Zambian academic currently residing in the city of Denver, Colorado, in the United States.)

If you tell a lie loud enough and long enough, the people will believe it—Adolf Hitler.

No one would have imagined that our leaders would gain inspiration and guidance from Adolf Hitler. Yet, prior to and after 2011, Zambia proved Hitler’s hypothesis about lies in politics beyond reasonable doubt, and we wonder whether our leaders have been students of Hitler or are his passionate followers.

You will all recall the famous slogans and chants: More Money in Your Pockets and People Driven Constitution in 90 days among many other carrots the PF dangled to get to power. More Money in Your Pockets had been replaced by More Money in Our Pocket (the PF’s pockets) as seen by the lavish lifestyles its leaders and followers can now afford. With regards the constitution, which is now a hot issue, the president has the following to say:

Zambia does not need a new constitution! Debates on the constitution should be ignored!

Yes, just like that, what a sharp U-turn! One would ask, wasn’t this the biggest campaign message of 2011? Isn’t it the constitution making process that has gulped billions of Kwacha? And now it’s not a big deal anymore?

With 2016 in sight, it seems we are in again for more deception, misdirection, fact-bending, half-truths, and downright lies-the challenge to win the hearts and minds of voters, again, as was in 2011.

It’s amusing how often politicians lie and then, of course, their unwillingness to admit that they lied. For example, the PF promised a constitution in 90 days. As soon as they got into power that changed.

First they claimed they meant that they will initiate a process in 90 days. Now we are told we no longer need a new constitution.
With the emergence of new forms of media, surely it should be able to make them accountable for their lies. The case of Vernon Mwaanga lying over his meeting with Moses Katumbi was well exposed by the Former independent Post News Paper leading to his resignation(seems MMD had credible leaders huh?). But post 2011, lies have become rampant and I am afraid it left unchecked will become the way of life.

So, why do our leaders believe they can lie when their falsehoods are so easily exposed?

There are a number of reasons, some general, others specific to Zambia.

1. As Hitler said, if a lie is told enough times, people will assume it is true. It is not a difficult to understand why people would believe something if they hear it enough. People expect that lies will be disproved and fade away. So if the lies continue to be heard, people assume, then they must be true. I can imagine, a lie consistently told from 2011 surely must have seemed like truth in 2011. In any case, most of the folks that voted in 2011 where in primary school when the lies started coming so to them this was the truth.
2. Most of our leaders, especially the current ones are arrogant, self-important, see themselves as special, as liberators of Zambia from the then perceived evil MMD and require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement. The self-important attributes causes them to believe that they are right and, even if they are not, they think they’re too smart to be caught or suffer the consequences.
3. In most cases, and particularly in Zambia, our leaders know and believe that their followers will believe them when they lie, even in the face of undisputable evidence to the contrary. It seems our Politicians and their supporters live in the same house in which everyone watches the same news channel(ZNBC), listens to the same talk radio(ZNBC Radio and Ifyabukaya), reads the same newspapers(Daily Mail, Times or the quasi-government former independent paper) and visit the same website (HE MCS’s Facebook page). This creates a waterproof membrane that prevents conflicting information from entering the ruling elite, and any conflicting information is deemed to be from ‘Bitter’ rivals. The word Bitter in PF politics seems to be the new sex; everyone is talking about the opposition as being bitter due to the loss of 2011 elections. Even in 2014, the Ministers of Information is still basking in the glory of the 2011 elections and calling others bitter.
4. Could it be that people don’t want to hear the truth? Truth, as the saying goes, hurts and no one wants to hear things that threaten their existence, their beliefs, or that will make them uncomfortable. It is decidedly better for politicians to tell people what makes them feel comfortable. Why should politicians be the tellers of bad news and risk losing the next elections when they can tell fairy tales with happy endings like More Money, More Jobs, No Load Shedding, No Shanty Compounds, New Constitution(which, of course, we all want) and come out the winner?

But hey, of course, once in power all governments must deal with reality – even if they have been elected on a systematic lie such as ours. In a perfect world politicians wouldn’t lie. But when the voters elect politicians who lie over those who tell the truth then the voters shouldn’t be surprised when they get caught in raw deals, the situation we are in now. But in order for politicians to tell the truth, the voters must stop punishing honesty. We must not accept mediocrity as the norm when we can emancipate ourselves from perpetual lies and dishonesty. We have seen the light and darkness since 2011. They say you cannot tell that a road a straight until you see a crooked one besides it. So when someone running for office tells you goody goodies next time, please, take time to think before you self-destruct. Watch out for the lies and make the right choices in the upcoming elections.

By Hjoe Moono