K150 Million Allocation for 2025 Education Curriculum Elates ZANEC
Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) says it is elated that government has allocated K150 million for the implementation of the new national education curriculum in the 2025 national budget.
In a statement, ZANEC Executive Director, George Hamusunga said this allocation is progressive and will promote lifelong learning, entrepreneurship, and practical skills.
Mr. Hamusunga also welcomed the increase in the budgetary allocation towards the School Feeding Programme from K111.7 million in 2024 to K534.4 million in 2025, as it will keep learners in school and improve learning outcomes.
He however said the organization is dismayed that allocation of funds to the education sector has reduced from 15.4% in 2024 to 14.5% in 2025.
“It is important as we have stated before that 20% of the total budget should be allocated to the education sector in line with the SADC and Cairo Protocols on Education.”
“This will allow the country to make adequate investments in improving quality education for all. It will also aid in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4,” Mr. Hamusunga asserted.
And Mr. Hamusunga advised government to ensure that the planned recruitment of 2,000 teachers in 2025, takes place in the first quarter of 2025.
“Otherwise, the delayed recruitment and replacement of teachers has had a negative impact on the teacher/pupil ratio. For instance, the delayed recruitment of the 4,500 teachers that were planned for in 2024 is not good for the sector.”
“Although the CDF allocations are welcome, government needs to address the bottlenecks that are leading to its underutilization. Continuing increasing the CDF without addressing the capacity gaps is counterproductive,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hamusunga stated that the Organization is happy with government’s planned construction of 58 hostel blocks across the eight public universities with a total bed capacity of 9,280, as this will go a long way in addressing the accommodation crisis in public universities.
Government has allocated over K31.4 billion towards the education sector, representing 14.5 percent of the K217.1 billion 2025 national budget.
