In a small and dark room, students look up to their one and only teacher. Their eyes glow with vivacity and their minds concentrate on learning. The overflowing enthusiasm among them make it seem as if they are capable of putting aside their obstacles. Yet, around them, they still find challenges that obstruct them from learning at their full potential.
In a classroom without electricity, textbooks, paper, pencils or even desks and chairs for the students, the teacher conducts today’s lesson. This is how students in the Myamba Community School, located on the Zambian-Tanzanian border, study. Though not all schools in Zambia face the same challenges, the majority are suffering under scarce resource and teachers.
“The Zambian school system is made up of a tremendous amount of hard working students and teachers doing their best to maximize learning as well as spurring development in their country,” says Bradford Coyle, a teacher currently working at an elementary school in Zambia.
Nonetheless, he is concerned by the major lack of resources. According to Coyle, “Most schools are hampered in their goals due to insufficiency in facilities and educational materials.”
Students in Zambia rarely see printed books, and most of them take notes on notebooks made of inexpensive thin newspaper. Pencils are expensive, and pens are great luxury items.
Since Zambia has a small-tax based economy, the government only provides free education up to seventh grade. As a result, 80 percent of the children attend elementary school but only seven percent continue their academic learning to high school, which is entirely based upon private funding. Even in the elementary schools, there is a teacher deficiency that leaves 20 percent of elementary school students without full-time teachers.
According to Coyle, these malfunctions in education need to be fixed with governmental and international support because “every student deserves a first class education and our world needs to do more to provide great opportunities for children living in less developed areas.”
