Africa-Press – Zambia. Former Zambian Ambassador to Ethiopia Mr. Emmanule Mwamba has said that the appearance of Minister of Education, Hon. Douglas Siakalima MP on ZNBC Sunday Interview with Grevazio Zulu cast doubt as to whether or not whether the Minister is equal to the task at the Ministry.
In a post on his Facebook page, Mr. Mwamba said that despite the fact that Mr Siakalima is one of the longest and experienced members of parliament serving the Siavonga Constituency and he is a qualified educationist, during the interview, the Minister appeared unprepared.
Mr. Mwamba said that the two key issues he felt the Minister has not understood or failed to explain are how the recruitment of 30,000 teachers would be done and how CDF will be used to support bursary schemes for learners at boarding schools and those pursuing tertiary education.
Mr. Mwamba said that although education services for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Schools have largely been free since 2011, the Minister was expected to explain the difference or changes that have occurred since his government came into office, adding that the Minister also missed the opportunity to explain how the new changes will be implemented.
MINISTERS MUST PREPARE BEFORE THEY MAKE PUBLIC OR MEDIA APPEARANCES
“How will the CDF deliver free education and bursary schemes?”
The ZNBC Sunday Interview with Grevazio Zulu this week hosted the Minister of Education, Hon. Douglas Siakalima MP. The Ministry of Education is key among institutions tasked to implement pre-election campaign promises made by the UPND Government.
Because major policy changes have been pronounced including free Education for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Schools, and the way education services will be delivered to Zambians.
Although education services to this category of schools have largely been free since 2011, the Minister was expected to explain the difference or changes that have occurred since his government came into office. The Minister also missed the opportunity to explain how the new changes will be implemented.
Two key issues I felt the Minister has not understood or failed to explain are how the recruitment of 30,000 teachers would be done and how CDF will be used to support bursary schemes for learners at boarding schools and those pursuing tertiary education.
TEACHER RECRUITMENT
The Minister was clearly sailing at sea and failed to explain the recruitment process of teachers in the public service. Let me help him as his technocrats clearly failed him. The mandate of teacher recruitment is now deposited in the Teaching Service Commission(TSC) in accordance with Article 223 of the Republican Constitution as amended in 2016.
Further, the Service Commission Act no 10 of 2016 gives mandate to the Commission to delegate some of its Human Resources functions to the Human Resources Management Committees at the District level, whose composition of its membership is prescribed in the Act and one of the major functions was teacher recruitment.
THE ROLE OF CDF IN BURSARY SCHEMES
The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is established by Article 162 of the Republican Constitution and is operationalised by the CDF Act No.11 of 2018. Government has since issued the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) guidelines on the management, disbursement, utilization and accountability of the Fund.
The CDF has a Secretariat at the Local Council. It must be emphasized that there are no developmental structures at the Constituency level although government is trying to include Ward Development Committees in the process. The Fund is divided into four main components;
When asked how the CDF will pay for vulnerable children and the selection criteria especially that Schools may open by 10th January, 2022, the Minister just summarized that everything will be ready by then. He also failed to explain why parents have to pay fees of K1,000 for boarding schools. He also failed to explain how vulnerability will be determined or assessed for children eligible for free education especially for those located in rural areas.
CONCLUSION
Hon. Siakalima is one of the longest and experienced members of parliament serving Siavonga Constituency and he is a qualified educationist. He is expected to deliver the policies on quality education and implement the policy of free education.
His appearance on ZNBC Sunday Interview appeared unprepared and unfortunately cast doubt as to whether or not whether he is equal to the task. Learners from early childhood, primary School, Secondary Schools, Colleges, and Universities want to understand how they will benefit from the bursary schemes.
Similarly, school managers also want to understand how this will be done and how the cost of running schools will be met. The Minister and his technocrats may be required to roll out extensive information on how all this will be done and achieved.
Further a close collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development is required and is imperative, especially since 20% of CDF will fund the education needs and bursary schemes of eligible learners.
Further concerns are how equitable the 20% of CDF which is K6,425,000 will be shared as Constituencies are different by size, population, and distance.
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