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 The principle pillars that underpin the provision of education lie in global declarations and national policies options that overarch with distinct aspiration of a group of people collectively. Following the declaration of the Education For All (EFA) goals in 1990 during the Jomtien conference in Thailand, Zambia embarked on concerted efforts to customise the declarations. Significant to this effort was the development of land mark policy documents in 1992 and 1996, (Focus on Learning and Educating Our Future). Focus on Learning placed emphasis on the insurance of schools being centres of learning with specific focus on learning achievement outcomes. A calibration of the required inputs that would realise the desired quality levels was a distinct characteristic of Focus on learning. On the other hand, Educating Our Future placed emphasis on the totality of a human being.
At the World Education Forum held in Dakar, April 2000, the international community including Zambia, adopted the EFA goals and, later in the same year, the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The former called for, and aimed at expanding and improving early childhood education and care, providing access to and completion of free and compulsory basic (primary) education of good quality, meeting education and training needs of all children, youth and adults as may be appropriate to their level and needs (adult literacy included), eliminating gender disparities and improving quality of education and training at all levels. The latter (MDGs) aimed at eliminating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability, developing a global partnership for development and, like for EFA goals, achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equality. Other goals and regional efforts notably under NEPAD and SADC have been targeted at reforms in education mainly in order to improve on quality and relevance (both to personal and national development) and for the purpose of re-establishing the missing link between the learning environment and the local and global world of work, employment and self employment. In addition an attempt has been made to standardise the provision of education services within the region in order to promote regional integration. The Ministry of Education, in its quest to improve the delivery of educational services has over the years been making concerted efforts to develop among other aspects a robust and reliable information base in support of core Ministry activities that include policy formulation, activity implementation, monitoring, and general education management. Along with all major policy developments has been the development of information systems that are to inform these processes on the healthiness of the system and establish the baselines and trends over time. The absence of a reliable information base renders the setting of performance targets and benchmarks a mere academic exercise and can also lead to great wastage of the limited resources. Download the 2006 Statistical Trends document - PDF Download the full Educational Statistical Bulletin document - PDF |
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