Overview of the Country

Background:

  • Official name: Republic of Zambia 1
  • Capital: Lusaka 1
  • Location: Southern Africa 1
  • Official language: English 2
  • National languages: 7 2
  • Population: 20,569,738 (2023) 3
  • GDP: 28.16 Billion US$ 4
  • GNI per capita, PPP (current international $): 3,960 (2023) 5

Membership of Regional Economic Communities (RECs):

Additional Resources:

Sources:

  1. Zambian tourism
  2. World Atlas
  3. Population Data Portal
  4. World Bank - GDP
  5. World Bank - GNI

Critical Sector Strategic Priorities in Education include: 1

  • Addressing poor learning outcomes  
  • Expanding access to education at all levels  
  • Ensuring equitable distribution of resources  
  • Increasing the efficiency of the education
  • Enhancing vocational and technical education
  • Strengthening management and governance in education

Similarly, the key strategic priority areas of the ESSP by sub-sector include:

ECE:

  • Expand the provision of suitable play and learning materials;
  • Implement school readiness assessment;
  • Implement child developmental milestones assessments;
  • Establish internal quality assurance of ECE education delivery;
  • Collaborate with communities to provide caregivers; and
  • Establish model ECE centres.
  • Primary Education (PE):
  • Improve quality of primary provision;
  • Improve access and equity in the delivery of primary education; and
  • Establish internal quality assurance of PE delivery;
  • Secondary Education (SE):
  • Increase the number of classrooms in secondary education;
  • Improve equitable recruitment and deployment of teachers especially those for science,
  • technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM);
  • Establish internal quality assurance of SE delivery; and
  • Enhance comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) through guidance and counselling.

AMEP/YALE:

  • Improve access to AMEP programmes;
  • Improve quality to AMEP programmes; and
  • Enhance equity through AMEP initiatives

Teacher Education, Management and Specialized Services:

  • Improve the responsiveness of teacher education to curriculum evolution;
  • Strengthen the regulatory and quality assurance functionalities of the Teaching Council of
  • Zambia (TCZ) as a way of maintaining and improving the quality and credibility of the teaching
  • profession;
  • Streamline the provision of teacher education to be responsive to national needs; and
  • Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of specialized services.

University Education:

  • Strengthen the regulatory functionalities of the HEA and Zambian Qualifications Authority
  • (ZAQA) as a way of maintaining and improving quality and credibility;
  • Increase the number of graduates on courses demanded by industry;
  • Create an enabling environment for innovative ways of funding universities; and
  • Develop a management information system (MIS) and a financial simulation model

TEVET (Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurial Training):

  • Strengthen the regulatory functionalities of TEVET as a way of maintaining and improving
  • quality and credibility;
  • Improve the management information system (MIS) on skills development;
  • Develop a financial simulation model; and
  • Enhance industry responsive curriculum development and review based on tracer studies and
  • discussion with industry

Governance Structure for Education:

  • Ministry of Education is responsible for overseeing Early Childhood Education, Primary education, secondary education, colleges of teacher education and public Universities in Zambia.
  • Ministry of Technology and Science is responsible for formulating and reviewing Technology and Science policies in order to contribute to economic growth.
  • The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is responsible for regulating higher education institutions to ensure quality standards are maintained. It also oversees the accreditation of institutions and programs, providing guidance on improving governance and management in the higher education sector.
  • Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ) is a regulatory body responsible for the accreditation, regulation, and professional development of teachers in Zambia. It ensures that teachers meet required standards.
  • Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority manages technical education, vocational and entrepreneurship training (TEVET) system.
  • Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) manages national examinations for primary, secondary, and tertiary education, ensuring standardized assessment across the country.
  • Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Education to develop and implement a national qualifications framework to ensure that standards and registered qualifications are internationally comparable.

 

Education System Structure: 1

  • Early Childhood Education (ECE): ECE has been mainly provided by the private sector and NGOs
  • Primary Education:  the largest in terms of budget and the number of schools and learners.
  • Secondary Education: Five years of secondary education, covering Grades 8 to 12. This structure allows for a distinction between junior secondary (Grades 8-9) and senior secondary (Grades 10-12).
  • Higher Education: provided after secondary education, leading to a qualification of Certificate, Diploma, bachelor's degree, Master’s Degree or Doctorate Degree.  
  • Vocational and Technical Education: Technical Education, Vocational Education and Training (TEVET) is incorporated within the education structure to equip learners with practical skills relevant to the job market. 

Additional Resources:

Sources:

  1. The Republic of Zambia, The Ministry of General Education and The Ministry of Higher Education. (n.d). Education and Skills Sector Plan 2017-2021

School age population (2023): 1

  • Pre-primary: 2 394 573
  • Primary: 3 826 966
  • General secondary: 987 825
  • Primary school enrolment: 1 366 226
  • Upper secondary: 956,138

Gross enrolment ratio (2020): 1

  • Pre-primary: no data found
  • Primary: 94.78%
  • Lower Secondary: 57.36%
  • Upper secondary: no data found

Completion rates: 2

  • Primary: 72.02% (2018)
  • Lower Secondary: 50.99% (2018)
  • Upper Secondary:  28.15% (2018)

Out-of-School rate (2019): 2

  • Primary school age: 14.45% (2017)
  • Lower secondary school age: No data
  • Upper secondary school age: No data

Additional Resources:

Sources:

  1. UIS Data
  2. UIS SDG4 Data

Proportion of children and young people achieving at least a minimum proficiency level by sex 1

Reading

  • In grades 2/3: No data found
  • At the end of primary: 9.70% (2023)
  • At the end of lower secondary: 4.04% (2017)

Mathematics  

  • In grades 2/3: No data found
  • At the end of primary:  16.0% (2023)
  • At the end of lower secondary: 2.30% (2017)

Learning achievement in reading (End of lower secondary)  2

  • Low proficiency, PISA-D, 2014 (Overall average): 20%
  • Minimum proficiency, PISA-D, 2014 Overall average): 5%

Learning achievement in mathematics (End of lower secondary) 2

  • Low proficiency, PISA-D, 2014 (Overall average): 10%
  • Minimum proficiency, PISA-D, 2014 (Overall average): 2%

Learning achievement in science (End of lower secondary) 2

  • Low proficiency, PISA-D, 2014 (Overall average): 29%
  • Minimum proficiency, PISA-D, 2014 (Overall average): 6%

 

Additional Resources:

Sources:

  1. UIS
  2. The World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE) for Zambia

Percentage of teachers qualified according to the national standards: 1

  • Pre-primary: no data found
  • Primary school: 98.75% (2017)
  • Lower secondary: 92.65% (2012)
  • Upper secondary: no data found

Percentage of teachers trained according to the national standards: 1

  • Pre-primary: No data found
  • Primary school: No data found
  • Lower secondary: No data found
  • Upper secondary: No data found

Additional Resources:

Sources:

  1. UIS

School infrastructure and facilities / Electricity: 1

  • Primary Education: 38.85% (2021)
  • Lower Secondary Education: 65.03% (2021)
  • Upper Secondary Education: 92.46% (2020)    

School infrastructure and facilities / Single‐sex basic sanitation facilities: 1

  • Primary Education: 90.57% (2017)
  • Lower Secondary Education: no data found
  • Upper Secondary Education: 63.36% (2019)

 

Additional Resources:

Sources: 

  1. UIS SDG4 Data
  2. 2022/23 Education Statistical Yearbook

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months (15-64 years old):  1

  • Both sexes: 16.91% (2022)
  • Male: 19.29%
  • Female: 14.95%

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months (15-24 years old):  1

  • Both sexes: 43.83% (2022)
  • Male: 46.62% 
  • Female: 41.22%

Proportion of 15- to 24-year-olds enrolled in vocational education: 1

  • Both sexes: 1.46% (2021)
  • Male: 2.15%
  • Female: 0.76%

Share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET): 2

  • Both sexes: 29.4% (2022)
  • Male: 25.2%
  • Female: 33.5%

Number of people 15-35 years old: 3

  • Total: 7,849,887 (2024)
  • Employed: 3,866,625 people (49.3%)
  • Unemployed: 299,422 people (3.8%)
  • Inactive: 2,171,989 people (27.7%​​​​)
  • Student: 1,500,248 people (19.1%)

Gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education: 1

  • Both sexes: 20.39% (2022)
  • Male: 21.00%
  • Female: 19.77% 

Total number of Higher Education institutions: 4

  • Public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): 15
  • Private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): 108

Additional Resources:

Sources:

Gender Parity Index (GPI) Gross enrolment ratio (2022): 1

  • Primary: 0.97
  • Lower secondary: 1.0
  • Upper secondary: 1.00

Adjusted Gender Parity Index (GPIA) Gross enrolment ratio (2022): 2

  • Tertiary: 0.94 (2022)

Proportion of schools with adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities (2021): 2

  • Primary: 4.49% (2016)
  • Lower secondary: no data found
  • Upper secondary: 14.10% (2016)

Additional Resources:

Sources:

  1. UIS
  2. UIS SDG4 Data

Expenditure on education: 1

  • Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP: 3.58% (2022) 
  • Expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure: 15.38% (2024)

Additional Resources: 

Sources: 

  1. UIS SDG4 Data 

Literacy rate by age group: (2022)

  • 15+ years: 80.38% (2020)
  • 15-24 years: 93.48% (2020)
  • 25-64 years: 76.12% (2020)
  • 65+ years: 54.65% (2020)

Literacy rate by sex: (2022) 

  • Both sexes: 80.38% (2020)
  • Males: 84.49% (2020)
  • Females: 76.19% (2020)

Additional Resources: 

Sources:

  1. UIS SDG4 Data

Proportion of schools with access to internet for pedagogical purposes: 1

  • Lower secondary: 18.67% (2018)
  • Upper secondary: 47.33% (2019)

Proportion of secondary schools with access to computers for pedagogical purposes (2018): 1

Sources:

  1. UIS SDG4 Data

Total:

  • Refugees and asylum seekers: 87,892 1
  • Internally Displaced Persons due to conflict or natural disasters: 9000 2

Sources:

  1. UNHCR Operational Data Portal – UNHCR
  2. Global Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

Education Sector Plan:

Related strategic documents:

National Commitment Statement:

  •  

Early Childhood Education Policy:

National Teacher’s Standards:

The National Credit and Qualifications Framework:

Higher Education Accreditation body:

National inclusive policy:

Gender Policy:

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) policy:

Youth policy:

ICT Country Profile:

Resilience plan:

Climate Change Education and Communication:

Private sector - Non-State actors in Education:

Sexuality education:

Education Scenario for 2043: