• That is the way to go.
• It’s just a way of ensuring that children do not go into grade one before they are prepared to learn.
• Neighboring countries like Zimbabwe have already applied this particular policy.
Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) says it supports proposals by stakeholders in the education sector for government to ensure that pre-school becomes compulsory.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, ZANEC Executive Director George Hamusunga said the organization wants a compulsory two year program for all children to help prepare them adequately before going into grade one.
Mr. Hamusunga noted that neighboring countries like Zimbabwe have already applied this particular policy, where children are subjected to a two year early learning program before being enrolled in grade one.
“That is the way to go and that is what we had proposed as ZANEC. We want a compulsory two year program for all children because that will help us prepare the children before going into grade one. So it’s just a way of ensuring that children do not go into grade one before they are prepared to learn.
“And our neighboring countries like Zimbabwe have already applied that particular policy, where for you to be enrolled in grade one, you must have gone through a two year early learning program which is very important for promoting quality education for our children and also improving performance,” Mr. Hamusunga noted.
Recently, National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) proposed that pre-school becomes compulsory as Zambia ponders on a new and responsive school curriculum.
Out of more than 10,400 primary schools, there are only about 4,880 Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres, representing about 47% national coverage and in 2020, only 37% of the Grade 1 learners had pre-school experience.
