Zambia: A Disagreement

Abstract

Third World nations, intending to reform their education, to learn from the recent experience of Zambia. I wish to make known certain aspects of the educational reform exercise about which Lulat may be unaware or which he deliberately ignored in his article. First, let me take together parts of paragraph one on page 235 and paragraph one on page 239. relevant part of the paragraph at page 235 reads: The government of Zambia, beset by deep and seemingly insoluble problems within the education sector akin to those experienced elsewhere in the Third World, in 1976 initiated a radical and highly imaginative reform of the entire educational system. By 1978, however, this effort had to all intents and purposes petered out, the reform effort never even having moved beyond the drafting board. above statement is incorrect. educational reform exercise started in May 1974 not in 1976. Most important, the reform exercise never petered out. reform is being implemented even now. Lulat's problem is that he fails to distinguish between policy formulation and policy implementation phases of the reform. formulation phase started in 1974 and ended in May 1977. In April 1978, the central committee, sitting together with the cabinet, considered and approved the educational reform document. Technically, therefore, it was after this that the document became the policy. Implementation of it could only start then, not before. It should be remembered, too, that implementation requires funds and sometimes legislation by parliament. latter does take time. Those who have studied the document will agree that it contains broad policy statements and not programs or projects for immediate implementation. Consequently, after the approval of the document, an Educational Reform Implementation Committee was set up to see that policy was translated into programs at departmental level. This committee reviews progress at meetings chaired by the minister of education himself. If, therefore, the educational reform petered out in 1976, how does Lulat explain the introduction of production work in schools, localization of School Certificate Examinations, the design of a new curriculum, the