REPAY HH AT THE BALLOT
…Syakalima urges voters to reward UPND for free education and expanded school infrastructure
FORMER Education Minister Douglas Syakalima says Zambians must show their gratitude by voting for President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND on August 13.
In an interview yesterday, Syakalima cited the party’s milestone free education policy, which has benefited over seven million children.
“With over seven million children benefiting from free education from early childhood to Form 6, this is a policy that has changed lives,” he said
Syakalima said to accommodate the overwhelming influx of pupils, the government increased the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation and was currently constructing 120 secondary schools and 330 early childhood schools across the country.
Syakalima said the UPND government had scored in education as the country recorded a high Grade 12 pass rate of 70.29 per cent.
He said the UPND had also employed a record high 45,000 new teachers in the last five years to cushion the teacher-pupil ratio and removed school examination fees to ease the burden on parents and guardians.
“Funding to the school feeding programme has increased from K33 million to K540 million to cover all 116 districts to ensure school pupils learn on fed stomachs,” he said.
Syakalima also defended the increase in university accommodation allowances announced by Hichilema on Saturday when the University of Zambia (UNZA) students marched to State House.
He said proceeds from loan repayments by former university students would be channeled towards payment of allowances.
“Government is encouraging that loan repayments are done in full which attracts a 20% discount. Meal allowances for university students, which were removed by the Patriotic Front (PF), were reinstated by President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND,” Syakalima said.
He said the UPND administration had revised the school curriculum to include skills and ethics to build a responsible cadre of school graduates and align them with integrity.
He projected that in the next 10 years, half of Zambia’s population would be in school.
Citing Finland, which he said had the best education system in the world, Syakalima said the Finnish government invested in education for over 41 years.
“When a government delivers such transformative programmes, the electorate must show gratitude at the ballot,” Syakalima said.
Zambia goes to the polls next week on August 13 – Story courtesy of UPND Media
