ZANEC Expects Government to Allocate 20% of 2025 Budget Towards Education Sector
Zambia National Education Coaltion (ZANEC) says it expects government to allocate 20% of the 2025 national budget towards the Education sector.
In a statement, ZANEC Executive Director, George Hamusunga says this will help Zambia achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 and commitments made during the Transforming Education Summit 2022, which are essential for the attainment of equitable and quality education for all.
Mr. Hamusunga stated that the organization also expects government to ensure that at least 10% of the total number of teachers deployed annually should be Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers and caregivers.
He added that increasing allocation for Early Childhood Education grants from 2.28% to 4% in the 2025 budget as the current allocation per school is not adequate.
“Expectations on the expenditure side of the budget are as follows; provide for construction of more infrastructure for secondary schools; Boarding facilities and teachers’ houses to address the challenges of inadequate secondary, boarding schools and decent houses for teachers.”
“Increase the allocation to the skills and tertiary sector from 8.7% in 2024 to 12% of the total education budget in 2025. Increase the percentage allocation to Youth Adult Literacy and Education (YALE) to at least 2% from the current 0.2% of the total Education budget which has remained constant for 3 years,” Mr. Hamusunga asserted.
He said doing so will help operationalize the YALE Policy, employ specialised adult learning instructors, conduct sensitisation on YALE lessons, provide more teaching and learning materials, and provide appropriate skills training.
And on the revenue side, Mr. Hamusunga expects government to introduce an Education Levy that can help with resource generation for the education sector.
He further wants to see a reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) from 16% to 13%, with an increase in non-refundable taxes.
Mr. Hamusunga noted that Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has continued to face challenges due to the inability to trace back the transactions of claimed input VAT filed by buyers due to the size or formality of suppliers.
The organization also expects a reduction in Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) expenditure by 50% and redirect the funds towards empowering Zambia National Service (ZNS) among others to increase their production of maize.
The 2025 National Budget will be presented by Minister of Finance Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane this afternoon.
