Parliament to engage Ministry of Education on compulsory education policy

By The Daily Times Last updated Jun 22, 2022

The Parliamentary Committee on Education has planned to meet officials from the Ministry of Education for an explanation on the delays to operationalise compulsory basic education for all the children in the country. He added that the committee will also engage Civil Society Organisations in education on the matter, saying their insights are significant…

The Education Act was passed in 2013 which calls for compulsory education and according to the committee, little has been done towards enforcement of the provision.

The committee’s chairperson Brainex Kaisi said they feel duty-bound to intervene, adding that the committee members want to establish setbacks the ministry is facing to implement the compulsory basic education provision and alternately find solutions.

“Our main role will be in the form of advice and our committee will sit down with the ministry to look into pros and cons of compulsory education. We are doing this because we are there for monitoring and advising if we feel we can assist,” Kaisi said.

He added that the committee will also engage Civil Society Organisations in education on the matter, saying their insights are significant in improving education standards in the country.

Education Activist who is also Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe said it is sad that the law that was passed 10 years ago is yet to be fully operationalised.

“We believe the law is not enough but developing an implementation plan is an ordeal. Unfortunately, that has not been done, yet we are talking about 10 years since this law was put in place,” Kondowe said.

Ministry of Education Public Relations Officer Chikondi Chimala said recently that the ministry is putting in place modalities to help them operationalise compulsory education for all.

Chimala cited issues like increasing infrastructure and training more special needs teachers.