7 / 204
Z A M B I A A N D U N E S C O
5
ZAMBIA NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO
I
feel privileged and honored to once again present to you all our Zambia
National Commission for UNESCO magazine for 2017. In the year 2017, Zambia adequately repre-
sented the Southern African region on the Education 2030 Steering Committee monitoring and evalu-
ating interventions for SDG 4. Zambia was also privileged to be elected a Member of the UNESCO
Executive Board during the 39
th
Session of the UNESCO General Conference held in Paris in 2017. The
Executive Board is one of the three constitutional organs of UNESCO and one of its responsibilities is
the execution of the programme adopted by the General Conference and, in this connection, considers
the reports on activities of the Organization submitted. At the same general conference, Zambia (Prof.
Nyambe Imasiku) was elected to sit on intergovernmental body that promotes international scientific
cooperation in water research, water resource management, education and capacity-building, which
is the International Hydrological Programme.
In ensuring that the education sector responds to national needs, my ministry embarked on the
development of the Education and Skills Sector Plan (ESSP) for the period 2018 to 2021. This was also
taking cognisance that the country had started implementing the Seventh National Development
Plan (7NDP) where the macro aspirations were expounded. The 2017-2021 macroeconomic frameworks
for the 7NDP have taken a paradigm shift from a sectoral to an integrated-multi-sectoral development
approach, hence the need for all sectors to review their plans. In addition, my country also started the
process of reviewing the Education Policy of 1996 as well as the Education Act of 2011 to embrace new
aspirations of the country and government.
My government remained committed to increasing equitable access to quality education. In this
regard, Early Childhood Centres were opened by annexing them to some selected primary schools, while
also exploring constructing new ones using community mode. As a way of reducing construction
timeframes, my ministry concentrated on finishing outstanding infrastructure projects for schools at
primary and secondary school levels so that these schools could be opened to the public.
My government continued improving the quality of education by providing themuch needed teaching
and learning materials, specialised equipment like computers, enhancing teacher qualifications as well
as providing mobile laboratories. To promote efficiency in its operations, the Ministry realigned its
functions and operations which resulted in establishment of new directorates/departments, such as the
creation of the Finance Department and the upgrading of the National Science Centre into a direc-
torate. More realignment will be made once the proposed structures made by the ministry are approved.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Cooperating Partners and stakeholders that
are working with my ministry to ensure we provide quality education and lifelong learning. I would
like to pay special tribute to UNESCO for its support through the Participation Programmes and extra-
budgetary support to projects like the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), the China-Fund in
Trust (CFIT) and the Capacity Development (CapEd). My ministry will remain committed to ensuring
that it provides the much needed quality education to its citizens, hence willing to work with all well-
meaning stakeholders to push this agenda forward.
n
Foreword
Hon. Dr. Dennis Wanchinga, M.P
Minister for General Education,
Chairperson of the Zambia National Commission for UNESCO