1. Dissertation, 2014 Candidate Number: 1401981
GG3001 Paper ID:AAAAA.
Is access to education in developing regions more important than the
quality of education being provided?
A study into the United Nation’s second millennium development goal; ‘Achieve
universal primary education’ with respect to the education system in Livingstone,
Zambia.

2. 2
Acknowledgements
Firstly I would like to thank all the people and organisations that have made this study possible.
African Impact have played an invaluable role in allowing me to carry out this study, going out of
their way to accommodate my desired methods and access to the field. Next, I would like to thank
the teaching staff and students I surveyed who were always enthusiastic and obliging to my research
and I would like to pay particular thanks to Nakatindi Community School where I spent a large
amount of time carrying out my research. Finally, I would like to thank my advisor, David Simon,
whose knowledge of the subject was enormously helpful.

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Contents
Abstract 4
List of Figures, Plates and Abbreviations 5
1. Introduction:
- Context of research: Introducing Republic of Zambia 6
- The education dilemma: The role of the UN 7
- Research Aim and Questions 8
- Paper Presentation 8
2. Literature Review:
- Universal Primary Education 9
- The role of the UN in global development 9
- Understanding education quality 11
3. Methodology:
- Access to Research Field 13
- Non-Governmental Organisations as Gate Keepers 13
- Participants 14
- Sampling strategy 14
- Sampling Methods
o Participant Observation 15
o Interviews 15
o Focus Groups 16
4. Results and Analysis:
- Curriculum 17
- Resources and Facilities 19
- Teacher Background 21
- Teaching style 24
5. Conclusion and Evaluation:
- Main findings 29
- Evaluation 30
Bibliography 31
Appendices 34

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Is access to education in developing regions more important than the
quality of education being provided?
A study into the United Nation’s second millennium development goal; ‘Achieve
universal primary education’ with respect to the education system in Livingstone,
Zambia.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of education students receive in seven
schools in Livingstone, Zambia. The importance of quality education cannot be understated and yet
the majority of academic literature on education in developing countries continues to focus on
issues surrounding enrolment targets. The argument made in this dissertation is that appropriate
infrastructure must be in place before strategies focused on increasing enrolment are employed.
This challenges the United Nation’s standpoint which is that any increase in education enrolment
rates will have a positive effect on the development of a nation. The results from this study
represent a misinterpretation of policy makers in respect of education. This study focuses primarily
on the perspectives of teachers and students on the current education system in Zambia using
interviews, focus groups and participant observation.

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List of Figures, Plates and Abbreviations
Figures
Figure 1: Map of Sub-Saharan Africa, Google Maps (2014)
Figure 2: Map of Livingstone, Google Maps (2014)
Figure 3: Graph of Net Enrolment in Zambia, World Development Indicators (2013)
Figure 4: Graph of Teaching Styles by Volunteers
Figure 5: Graph of ‘Favoured Punishments’
Plates
Plate 1: Nakatindi’s Grade 5 Classroom
Plate 2: Zambian Textbook
Plate 3: Corporal Punishment Poster
Plate 4: Nakatindi Community School
Plate 5: Nakatindi’s Grade 5 Class
Plate 6: Motto for Nakatinidi Community School
Plate 7: Afterschool literacy class, Linda Primary school
Plate 8: Mr Mwanda
Plate 9: Afterschool art class, Mwandi Community School
List of Abbreviations
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
UPE Universal Primary Education
MDG Millennium Development Goal
NER Net Enrolment Rate

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1. Introduction
The study of education within the context of development studies has an extensive, rich
history. Academic studies have been undertaken all over the world to look into how investment into
school systems has linked with economic and social progression of the individual state. However,
this dissertation will focus on the importance of quality education, a term which is difficult to define
and even more difficult to measure. This research will create an alternative perspective on a topic
which is central to development practices with the objective of understanding the importance of a
child’s school environment and exposure to effective teaching approaches.
Context of research: Introducing Republic of Zambia
Zambia is a land-locked nation in sub-Saharan Africa which stretches across 291,586 sq.
miles. The Republic has a population of 12.8 million (UN, 2012) and is surrounded by neighbours;
Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola and the DRC. Zambia’s
former capital, preceding Lusaka, was Livingstone, a city named after its first European visitor;
David Livingstone. It is in this city, of 136,897 inhabitants, in which the research for this
dissertation was carried out, specifically in seven schools, in and around the city.
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3.
2.
5.
4.
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LivingstoneSub-Saharan Africa
1. Mwandi Community School 5. Malota Community School
2. Nakatindi Community School 6. Holy Cross Basic School
3. Zambezi Sawmills Community School 7. Linda South Primary School
4. Dambwa Christian Community School
Figure 1. Source: Google Maps (2014)
Livingstone
Figure 2. Source: Google Maps (2014)

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The education dilemma: The role of the UN
‘Investing in education is the single most effective means of reducing poverty.’ This claim
by the Global Partnership for Education accurately describes the importance education has to
developing countries. With a strong education system in place, a nation can benefit from higher
average rates of income, lower crime rates, healthier citizens and also the promotion of equal rights
(Fuller, 1986).
The importance of education cannot therefore be overly stressed and it is for this reason that
in the year 2000, 189 United Nations member states committed themselves to help achieve the 8
Millennium Development Goals (MGDs), amongst which was a pledge to ‘achieve universal
primary education’, by 2015. Zambia achieved 99.1% net enrolment (see box below) in 2008, 7
years ahead of the stated target year of 2015. However, during the same period adult literacy
declined from 79% to 70% whilst youth literacy rates have also declined from 69.5% to an
estimated 64% according to the official site of MDG indicators. It is national statistics such as these,
(which are not only confined to Zambia but many other developing countries such as neighbouring
Mozambique and Zimbabwe) that have prompted many criticisms of the UN and the aims of their
development goals.
Therefore, the question which must be asked is why there is a negative correlation between
educational enrolment and attainment levels. The argument being made in this dissertation is that
the UN’s push to increase student attendance has led to the neglect of education quality. With more
children enrolling without a suitable increase in trained teachers, school buildings, resources and
other financial inputs the result has been a fall in academic achievement, measured by literacy rates
and arithmetic standards. The EFA Global Monitoring Report condemned the UN’s attempt to
promote education by highlighting that ‘these declarations and commitments are silent about the
quality of education to be provided’.
Net vs Gross enrolment: The primary school net enrolment ratio (NER) measures the
percentage of children who are of primary education age who are enrolled in school. The
NER therefore has a limit of 100%. Gross enrolment records the percentage of all aged
children enrolled in school and can exceed 100% due to the number of students who
repeat grades or are late entering the education system. (Huebler, 2005)

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Research Aim and Questions
Research Aim: To analyse, in accordance with western standards and international organisations,
the quality of education being provided in Livingstone, Zambia.
Research Questions:
Curriculum
How appropriate is the curriculum which has been adopted in Zambia?
Facilities and Resources
How do schools lend themselves to being effective learning environments?
To what extent is there a shortfall in resources and financial inputs?
Teaching
How effective is the teaching style in the primary schools of Livingstone?
What are the backgrounds of the teachers with regards to training?
The research questions above provide the framework for this dissertation. Investigating these three
areas offers measurable results regarding education quality which demonstrates the standard of
education being provided in light of the UN’s push towards; universal primary education.
Paper Presentation
This dissertation will be split into four parts. The report first looks at the literature review
which will examine key arguments within the debate of education in the developing world. These
include the role of the UN as an actor in global development, defining what ‘quality education’ is
and the history of Universal Primary Education (UPE). The methodology will then present the
strategy for primary research and the methods employed to collect appropriate results. The results
of the study will then be presented and analysed followed by a conclusion to the study.

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2. Literature Review
Universal Primary Education
The target for achieving Universal Primary Education (UPE) has long preceded that of the
Millennium development goals (MDGs). It is therefore important to place the UN’s strategy for
developing education systems, beginning in the year 2000, within the context of previous attempts
towards the same objective. The most relevant strategy has been that of UNESCO, an organisation
which has strived for UPE since the mid-80s. In 1990, the World Conference on Education for All
was held in Jomtien, the first major event held on the global stage focused on aspects of developing
education. 155 countries agreed to ‘universalise primary education’ by the end of the decade.
However, the phrase ‘quality education’ did not appear within the framework’s objectives. The
significance of this omission was clear to see ten years on at the World Education Forum in Dakar.
The Forum’s report included 128 mentions of the word ‘quality’, with particular emphasis on the
failure to improve quality education in the 1990s and stressed the need to focus on quality in future
strategies alongside increasing enrolment. The omission within the World Conference was clearly
an enormous oversight, given the attention it was given in the Dakar framework in 2000.
The extract above is an important message to come from the Dakar Framework as it
indicates how important quality education is within the idea of education development. It is
therefore particularly surprising that the UN’s second development goal does not relate to quality
education but instead is solely focused on an enrolment based target; ‘Ensure that, by 2015, children
everywhere… will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling’. This return to UPE as a
primary objective raised a number of questions relating to the UN’s motives for global development
and their suitability as an organisation to be leading development strategies.
The role of the UN in global development
Criticism of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals has arisen in respect of means and
ends based goals. An ends based goal is one that is a measurable aspect of development, for
example, by 2015, 75% of children completing primary school should have achieved basic literacy
‘Recent assessments of learning achievement in some countries have shown that a
sizeable percentage of children is acquiring only a fraction of the knowledge and skills they
are expected to master. What students are meant to learn has not often been clearly defined,
well-taught or accurately assessed.’ – Dakar Framework for Action (2000: 17)

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and numeracy skills. A means based approach is one that does not directly link to a development
indicator but rather suggests that achieving primary education, for example, will lead to the
development of a country. The UN have adopted a means based goal with respect to education and
this has been criticised by such academics as Jeffrey James who regards this approach as largely
ineffective and inappropriate to the issue of development; ‘The mere meeting of a target – universal
primary-level education – may not deliver the desired end of an adequate education for the modern
world.’ (James, 2006; 448)
However, attempting an ends based approach is fraught with difficulties when undertaking a
global scheme, which the MDGs are. Willis (2005) describes the difficulties faced with collecting
results, which is a vital element in understanding whether a development goal has been achieved or
not. Selected data, such as school enrolment percentages, can readily be found on the internet for
the vast majority of countries around the world dating back three decades. However, attempting to
find educational attainment levels is far more challenging. This is because of a number of reasons
including data collection being disrupted by political unrest and the marginalisation of some groups
in a country due to geographical location, social status or economic status (Bulmer and Warwick
1993). It is clear therefore that whilst James is justifiable in his criticism of goals being too distant
from accepted development indicators, attempting to collect detailed and accurate data for an ends
based approach would be almost impossible, especially when trying to compare countries which use
different school syllabuses, exams and grade systems.
Rigg (2008) shares James’s criticism, arguing that the goals offer governments and
development agencies an achievable target whilst not addressing underlying problems. For
example, the first MDG; reduce by half the number of people living in extreme poverty (under $1 a
day), is purely an income based target and yet other forms of poverty are overlooked such as
political marginalisation and cultural rights. The effect this has is that governments and agencies are
inclined not to examine the root of the problem and address it, but rather, focus their attentions on
increasing average incomes. This argument is further evidence that the UN MDGs may not be
appropriate for tackling the issues surrounding development. Even if results are positive by 2015,
critics such as Rigg and James may argue that the overall programme may have put a cloak over the
real issues and this is surely a very dangerous result.
The final point to make on the UN is that the goals do not stand alone. All eight goals link
to each other, one way or another and a success in one area is reflected in another. For example, if
by 2015 the education target is achieved by a number of countries, there would be an expectation
that the rates of HIV/Aids will have fallen in these countries because more people are educated
about how the disease spreads and how to take precautions (Vandemoortele et al. 2004). This
multidimensional approach to development is the strongest argument for why the UN is the most

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suitable actor in leading development strategies over individual governments and smaller
organisations.
Understanding education quality
Understanding quality education is a complex issue because it is a multidimensional, largely
incomparable service (between countries). A large number of definitions have been made on what is
quality education and the characteristics that should be associated with it. The definition that shall
be used in this study is that of the Dakar Framework, identified in the paper, Defining Quality in
Education. Five features of quality are identified as ‘learners, environments, content, processes and
outcomes’. These features have been designed to attempt to cover the entire schooling experience
and what should be expected in each area, with respect to quality.
i. Curriculum
The first area for investigation focuses on the national curriculum which is implemented in
schools. Two key points need to be made in relation to school curriculum concerning;
i) a curriculum which is tailored by local or national influences and
ii) a curriculum which is student-centred.
The first point focuses on who is setting the curriculum for a school. In western countries,
there is usually a government written curriculum which is employed in all schools with very little
local influence. Muskin (1999) argues that local level interests should be prioritised over a national
level in developing countries because social issues and cultural differences vary, far more, by
geographical location.
The second point is made by Glatthorn and Jailall (2000) who outline the necessary
characteristics for an effective syllabus. These include studying the most important areas of
knowledge in depth rather than broad coverage, and a structured curriculum which is sensitive to
differing student abilities and backgrounds. I shall be linking back to Muskin and Glatthorn when
analysing whether the syllabus in Livingstone reflects their points.
ii. Facilities and Resources
The second element of ‘education quality’ is that of how school resources and facilities
influence a quality education. This would seem initially to be an obvious correlation with increased

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resources and better facilities the quality of education is raised and thus higher achievement levels
will be obtained by students. However from the numerous studies in this field, there has not been an
outright conclusion. Strictly within studies concerning developing countries, Al-Samarrai (2002)
finds that there is enough evidence to suggest that better school facilities and resources provide a
higher quality education; ‘education systems tend to be so severely under-resourced compared to
developed countries that marginal increases in resourcing are likely to have much larger impacts on
education outcomes than in developed countries’. When analysing the results to this study, I shall
be comparing results to a number of much smaller scale academic studies on facilities and resources
within schools.
iii. Teacher Background
The relationship between teacher background and the provision of quality education is the
third aspect of my study. Studies carried out by Avalos & Haddad, (1979); Husén et al, (1978) and
Fuller (1987) found consistently that student attainment levels were linked with ‘the number of
years of formal education received by teachers’ in a positive association, (Lockheed and Komenan,
1989: 94). 60% of a further 60 studies collated by Lockheed (1989) found positive relationships
although the 11 studies taken from African nations were less positive. I attempt to place the results
from my study into the context of the studies mentioned above and try to understand why there
would be a correlation.
iv. Teaching style
The final area for investigation focuses on the style of teaching which is adopted in schools.
Quality of teachers is arguably the most important aspect of school life; however in a number of
studies into teacher quality in sub Saharan Africa, the results have been extremely poor relative to
western standards and ideologies. Verwimp (1999) documents a study in Ethiopia whereby nearly
50% of teachers interviewed admitted using corporal punishment at least once a week whilst Miske,
Dowd, et al (1998) cites the behaviour of a minority of male teachers in Malawi who were guilty of
sexually harassing girls even in the presence of outside observers. It is these accounts of teacher
behaviour which have been strongly criticised, with the UNICEF paper on education published in
2000 identifying that ‘learning cannot take place when the basic needs of survival and self-
protection are threatened, UNICEF (2000: 9). Teaching style is also closely linked with the first
three elements of quality education and so results associated with facilities, for example, are
manifested in the teaching style and are analysed within the context of the literature outlined above.

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3. Methodology
Access to Research Field
In order to gather data concerning education quality in the Global South, this study was
carried out in seven schools in the surrounding areas of Livingstone, Zambia. To access these
schools I used the non-governmental organisation, African Impact, as gate keeper. African Impact
was founded in 2004, and since then has become one of the largest ‘voluntourism’ organisations in
Africa. The NGO has worked closely with the charity, The Happy Africa Foundation, which was
founded in 2008. The charity independently regulates development projects and initiatives run by
African Impact in the various communities on a non-profit basis. Its mission is to influence
communities through long-term development strategies with particular emphasis on education,
health and empowerment.
Non-Governmental Organisations as Gate Keepers
Potter and Desai (2006) write that there are a number of advantages and disadvantages
associated with working through an NGO to carry out fieldwork. NGOs offer a local entry point to
the field of study and usually employ local field experts to help with the running of on-the-ground
operations. This would therefore offer a researcher an easy access to the field of investigation
(schools for my study) and to be exposed to locals who have a wealth of experience and knowledge.
Furthermore these locals can help with language barriers between the researcher and the study’s
target population. NGOs are not generally footloose as the projects that they are attempting to set up
and operate may take many years. This means that they can grow a positive relationship and
reputation within the local community. With respect to this study, students I interviewed were used
to interaction with white, mostly European volunteers in their classrooms and not overly cautious of
a ‘Mzungu’ wanting to talk to them. However, this did have the potential to be a disadvantage too if
previous volunteers for African Impact had acted improperly in the same classrooms that I had
visited. This would immediately damage any relationship between me and the study’s participants,
and so obtaining accurate, detailed results would have been much more difficult.
Other disadvantages include the inflexibility of an NGO in accommodating the needs of a
researcher. The priority of a NGO will always be the day to day running of the development
projects and not setting up interviews and focus groups on behalf of their volunteers. Therefore I

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had to clarify if it would be possible to carry out research whilst also volunteering and following the
desired plans of the NGO before travelling to the research area.
Participants
Before undertaking my research I needed to pinpoint which demographics I needed to
survey to be able to answer my research questions in the fullest and most accurate manner possible.
I decided to focus the basis of my results on three key demographics; teachers, students and African
Impact co-ordinators/volunteers. During my time in Livingstone I was able to complement these
demographics with the perspectives of a parent and school committee member, a Deputy Head
teacher and also a number of local Zambians who had an opinion on the school system in place. A
list of the participants can be found in appendix A on page 34.
Sampling strategy
My sampling strategy was not entirely flexible. Each volunteer is assigned to one school for
the duration of their time in Livingstone so that they are able to build a working relationship with
the students and the teachers they assist. I was assigned to Nakatindi Community School’s grade 5
(plate 1) and so spent each morning there from 8am- 12.30pm. I believe my study benefitted from
African Impact’s policy to keep volunteers with the same school as I was able to gain the trust of
students over a number of weeks and as a result they spoke freely and confidently in the focus
groups I held. In the afternoons volunteers alternate which schools they attend for literacy classes,
art classes or other after school clubs. These afternoon sessions were developed by African Impact
in conjunction with participating schools. Again I was assigned the schools I would be attending but
this aided my research as I was able to investigate six other schools in addition to Nakatindi.
Plate 1 Source: Authors own (2013)

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To survey students I randomly selected 6 children for a focus group. I would look to alternate
the students in the separate focus groups if I had done more than one at a particular school. When
setting up interviews with teachers, I would be restricted by how many were available at the times I
visited the schools and so would usually interview teachers who were assisting with after school
clubs or at Nakatindi I was able to speak to two teachers and the Deputy Head during the students’
break times.
Sampling Methods
i. Participant Observation
This method is sometimes regarded as non-scientific, (Easthope, 1971) however participant
observation can be an effective way of supplementing a study with an outsider’s, objective
perspective. I used this method of research differently throughout the study. At times I was
passively participating when observing the classroom during lessons and studying the teaching style
and the interaction between teacher and student. At other times I actively participated by teaching
lessons myself, both academic lessons as well as sports and art classes. Participant observation is a
method described by Jorgensen as a description of ‘what goes on, who or what is involved, when
and where things happen, how they occur and why,’ (Jorgensen, 1989:12). By triangulating my
research methods I found that participant observation gave me a richer understanding of what
interviewees were saying.
ii. Interviews
Formal interviews are an effective way of gaining a large amount of detailed data on specific
aspects of the study. I interviewed teachers at 5 different schools, attempting to find a range in ages,
gender and background training as well as the Deputy Head teacher of Nakatindi School. As
mentioned above, it was not always easy to set up interviews with teachers who would often be
busy either taking classes or marking work. However, they were very helpful and we often found a
time after school or in lessons when the children had been set a task to be getting on with. The
transcription of these interviews can be found on page 36 of the appendix B.

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iii. Focus Groups
I decided to set up a number of focus groups to survey students as this research technique has the
advantage of making the participants feel more relaxed compared with a formal one to one
interview. I believe this was an important factor when speaking to children who enjoy the company
of their classmates and their confidence to speak in a group is far greater than on their own. There
was no shortage of volunteers for focus groups as the students seemed to enjoy talking about their
school life. The only limitation I found holding focus groups was the language barrier, where some
of the children would struggle to understand the questions I asked. However in these situations,
students with a better understanding of English would help by translating. Part B of the appendix
gives the data from these focus groups on page 39.

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4. Results and Analysis
i. Curriculum
The first aspect of the results which will be discussed is that of the curriculum which is used
in Zambian schools. The curriculum, written by the government, was adopted in all 7 of the schools
which were a part of this study. According to Ayeni (1989), an effective school curriculum has
great significance in developing countries. Ayeni argues that a school curriculum has a number of
key components, two of which are related to my study. Firstly, the curriculum is a selection of
appropriate content and secondly it is the choice of methods to be adopted in order to teach
students. It is these two components that are focused on in this section of the results. The reason I
have decided to investigate the curriculum first is to provide context for the remainder of the results.
A quality education begins with an appropriate, well-constructed curriculum. Without this, other
important aspects of the education system will be negatively impacted (Crossley and Murby 1994).
The curriculum is taught in English, Zambia’s national language, despite the fact that only
2% of the population speak English as their first language. However, it is the country’s most
common second language and with over 70 different languages spoken around the country it is
argued by the government that the only way to set a national curriculum was to write one in the
lingua franca of Zambia - English. During my study, the difficulties involved with teaching in a
second language became immediately apparent. The most prominent issue was that if a child
struggled to learn English early on in their education, they would then struggle to learn maths,
integrated science and every other subject as they would all be taught in English.
In an interview with Nakatindi’s grade 5 teacher, Mr Mwanda (May 19th, 2013), I asked
what the implications were for teaching in English rather than the local language spoken in
Livingstone - Tonga. Mr Mwanda replied that it made lessons go at a slower pace as children who
did not have a good grasp of English would struggle to keep up and he would have to clarify points
in Tonga for the students. He went on to say that all the textbooks used in the class were printed in
English and so it made setting work particularly difficult for some students. However, the varied
abilities in English meant that students who were comfortable speaking and understanding English
would help those around them who were less sure. In my first focus group I found this out when I
posed questions to a group of six students from grade 5, they would often confer with each other in
Tonga before two of the more competent speakers of English would reply.
The issue of teaching lessons in English is greatly contested in Zambia at present. A move
by three of the largest teacher unions in Zambia has put pressure on the government to introduce
teaching in local languages from preschool to grade 4. As a result pilot schemes have been

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introduced with the intention of adopting the scheme in all schools in Zambia. Hilary Chipango,
head of the Basic Education Union of Zambia (BETUZ) argued that in countries such as South
Africa, Namibia and Botswana the introduction of local languages in schools had been successful
and Zambia should follow suit. From my results I believe that teaching in local languages would not
only be more beneficial to students but also for teachers. In part three of the results I analyse teacher
backgrounds and found that many teachers were untrained and unqualified; therefore they also
struggled with having to teach in English. I believe that if the proposal to introduce local languages
into Zambian schools is approved, the level of quality education would be raised.
Ayeni’s second component for an effective curriculum is the selection of content. UNICEF
(2000) outlined the characteristics of a quality curriculum which includes; ‘clearly defined learning
outcomes… [for] literacy, numeracy, life skills and peace education’ (UNICEF 2000: 11).
The Zambian curriculum covers all these
characteristics including a particular focus on
contemporary Zambian societal issues such as the
HIV/AIDs epidemic which is introduced to children in
grade 5. Education is regarded universally as a key tool in
addressing contemporary developmental barriers and my
experience in Zambia reaffirmed this. ‘Life Skills’ play an
important role in the Zambian curriculum with an
example of this shown by plate 2. Grace Siamani, a parent
and committee member for Nakatindi school, stressed the
importance of the ‘life skills’ element of the curriculum
saying that whilst learning about HIV may not give a
child skills to get a job, it could save their life. Mrs
Siamani recalled that in her childhood she did not receive
lessons on such things as preventing diseases and she
believed this has attributed to the current situation in
Zambia with the high rate of HIV and various other
diseases. It was therefore very important to her that
children were now being taught about these aspects of health.
Mrs Siamani went on to say that it was also important to have flexibility with the
curriculum. As Nakatindi is a community school, the community have an equal say in key decisions
at the school alongside the staff. Of the seven schools I visited in Zambia, five were community
schools and two were classed as basic schools. It was common that at the community schools,
Plate 2 Source: Authors own (2013)

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including Nakatindi, the curriculum would be manipulated to suit the attitudes of the community
and what they wanted their children to be learning. For example, Mrs Siamani spoke about how
Nakatindi had recently set up a garden patch on the school grounds to educate children about
agriculture; ‘there are few opportunities for children to go to secondary school so most will go on to
be farmers, manual labourers or work in industry,’ - Siamani, G (28th May 2013). It was therefore
felt by the community that children’s prospects after school were fairly narrow and that teaching
them skills relatable to common employment was of equal importance to literacy, numeracy and
other aspects of the government set curriculum. This opinion perhaps stems from the fact that there
are over 80 primary schools in the Livingstone area with just 4 secondary schools. Nakatindi’s
Deputy Head teacher ominously labelled the situation as ‘survival of the fittest,’ - Musonda, C (25th
May, 2013).
From my research into the Zambian curriculum I would conclude that the education system
has a quality basis for learning. The curriculum covers all the aspects outlined by UNICEF to offer
students a good education. However, I do believe that it could be considerably more efficient by
teaching in local languages as is being put into action at present (January 2014). The emphasis on
particular developmental issues such as the spread of HIV is covered in depth in the curriculum and
has the potential to significantly tackle the problem which currently directly impacts one in three
people in Livingstone. The true effectiveness of a curriculum, however, is manifested through the
teaching style which will be explored in part 4 of the results. It will be in the section where I will
analyse how the curriculum is being taught to offer a quality education.
ii. School facilities and resources
The next aspect of the study focuses on school facilities and resources. The physical
learning environment of a school and the presence of adequate learning materials are crucial in
enabling a quality education, argue UNICEF (2000). Within my research, however, the inadequacy
of school buildings and the lack of appropriate materials were themes that were repeatedly brought
up. Over 90% of the students felt that they found it hard to concentrate in lessons with the most
common reason being that they would be distracted by their classmates. This problem stems from a
combination of small classrooms and a large number of children in each year. Average numbers of
pupils in a single moderately sized classroom would exceed 50. Three quarters of the interviewed
group of students felt that they found it difficult to follow the lesson when there would often be
fighting around them over stationery, books and space on the congested benches. However when
asked if they would prefer to have smaller class sizes the majority said no because they didn’t want
to be spilt up from friends (25-26th/5/2013).

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Teachers felt similarly with respect to the size of classes, with one saying that half of the
lesson time was spent breaking up fights and trying to keep the noise down. This was attributable to
the fact that students were so cramped around desks.
The buildings ranged in quality between different schools. Nakatindi School had benefitted
from a donation from a private individual who had helped finance the building of five new
classrooms equipped with blackboards and desks. However, schools in poorer areas such as
Mwandi suffered from having poorly designed buildings. Volunteers who worked in this particular
school believed teaching was made significantly more difficult beyond eleven o’clock in the
morning as the classroom’s corrugated iron roof and lack of windows made the small classroom
extremely warm; the large number of students in the classroom further exacerbated the problem.
Jenny Evans, a volunteer from the UK, described the classroom as a ‘sauna’ and went onto say that
children would become tired more quickly compared with other schools because there was little
natural light which entered the classroom - Evans, J (2nd June, 2013).
The lack of learning materials such as text books also became an issue of great frustration
for teachers. One teacher explained that with the very inadequate number of text books for the
number of children in the class, setting work from books was not always an option and homework
would have to be set with this in mind. The effect this issue has on students is also significant as
shown by the case study.
There has been no shortage of studies into the effects of quality of school buildings and
availability of educational resources on attainment levels. Two studies carried out by Pennycuick
(1993) in Botswana and Nigeria and by Willims (2000) in Latin America have shown a strong
correlation between the quality of a learning environment and test scores as well as grade repetition.
However, the issue has been left largely inconclusive as measuring aspects of student backgrounds
and their response to their surroundings has been very difficult. From the study, it would not be an
Case Study
A co-coordinator for African Impact described how lack of resources desperately
needed improving and to increase the availability of text books in school. She spoke about how
it was often the case that one book would have to be shared between up to ten students which
resulted in a number of children having to read upside down. This was particularly the case for
one boy who became so used to the practice of having the book facing away from him that he
learnt to read upside down. This was discovered when a volunteer had taken the boy aside to
offer one to one help and the boy had to hold the book upside down in order to read the text.
The coordinator went on to say that it took more than three months to teach the boy how to
read the right way round and how difficult it had been to adjust.
(Shelley Tomkins, 24/5/2013)

21. 21
unfounded conclusion to make that the standard of school buildings does influence education
quality. Whilst the evidence showing that the proportion of children going on to secondary schools
from better equipped primary schools is very high, this does not totally prove that there is a
relationship. However, the interviews with teachers and volunteers show that it is far more difficult
to teach in a poorly designed and constructed school building and therefore this study would seem
to conform to others in academic literature.
From my study into the standard of facilities and resources within Livingstone’s schools I
would put forward the conclusion that quality education can be provided in Livingstone. Whilst the
quality of classrooms ranges a great deal, generally they are conducive to learning accompanied
with good quality text books and desks. However, this assumes that in these classrooms there would
be at most, 25 students. Having double this number downgrades the quality of the physical learning
environment immensely. These findings can directly be linked to the UN’s movement to increase
enrolment in the Global South, with two arguments arising. Firstly, supporters of the UN’s second
MDG will argue that the education system in Zambia is more equal in offering opportunities to
children compared with 10-15 years ago. However, I would counter this by highlighting that the
drive to increase student numbers has not been met with appropriate increases in the number of
schools textbooks, desks and the construction of new schools and classrooms. Therefore I believe
that all children attending the schools in my study have been dealt a huge disservice by attending
schools which are not effective learning environments and consequently receiving a lower standard
of education. In part four of the results I will be discussing how inadequate classrooms and
resources has a detrimental effect on teaching style, further worsening the quality of education
being provided.
iii. Teacher Background
The third element of my results looks at teacher quality and particularly the training required
to be a teacher in a school in Livingstone. From my study I found that there was a significant
shortfall in the number of qualified teachers in the seven schools I visited.
One school I worked closely with during my time in Zambia was Nakatindi Community
School. It was here that I learnt first-hand of the problems of staffing a school in Livingstone. The
5th grade teacher I assisted was a volunteer from the community who had been asked to fill in for a
teacher who was on extended leave for illness. Mr. Mwanda had been filling in for the past three
months, coming from the local college to teach over 50 children. In order to find out why a 19 year
old college student with no formal teaching qualifications had been drafted into the school I spoke
with the Deputy Head teacher of Nakatindi; Christopher Musonda.

22. 22
Mr. Musonda said that the school would always look towards hiring trained and experienced
teachers, but with the lack of finances for wages it was impossible to have fully trained teachers in
each class. At the time the study was taken (May - June 2013) there were 10 trained teachers at the
school, 8 paid by the government and 2 that worked on a voluntary basis. In a school of 610
students therefore, there was one qualified teacher per 61 students. In addition to these there were
three community members working at the school that had no training whatsoever in teaching,
including Grade 5’s Mr Mwanda. The problem outlined by the Deputy was that it was the policy in
Zambia that the government supplies one teacher per grade for a community school, regardless of
the number of children enrolled. Therefore, the number of qualified teachers afforded to the school
had to be supplemented by untrained volunteers.
Memory Mundia, a project co-ordinator for the Happy Africa Foundation said in an
interview that the situation at Nakatindi with reference to staffing was better than most community
schools - Mundia, M (3rd June, 2013). She estimated from her time spent working in the schools
around Livingstone that at least 30% of teachers were not fully trained, offering two key reasons
why. Firstly, the surge in enrolment during the past decade had not been met with appropriate
increases in trained teachers and secondly that the spread of HIV/AIDS within the teacher
population had been extremely serious.
The reasons for a lack of teachers as argued by Memory Mundia are reinforced in a number
of academic studies. Grassly et al. (2003) made a number of key findings in their study on the
impact HIV/AIDS has on the economic cost of teaching in Zambia. Grassly found that in 1999
HIV/AIDS had an opportunity cost of an estimated US$1.4 - $3.0 million. Over the next decade,
post-MDGS, Grassly found that the virus could eventually account for over $40m in government
spending in education. 70% of this figure includes the cost of paying salaries to absent teachers,
such as Nakatindi’s grade 5 teacher, and a further 23% of this cost would be spent on training
teachers needed to replace those affected by HIV. These figures would appear to complement my
study and show that there is an enormous shortfall in finances to deal with the HIV epidemic in the
education sector. Schools such as Nakatindi do not have the resources to continue paying teachers
on extended leave and then employ trained replacement teachers too.
Whilst the evidence given by Grassly et al. is hugely significant, the evidence for many
other African countries is that even without the AIDs epidemic exacerbating the problem of a lack
of trained teachers there would still not be enough teachers being trained to keep up with increased
enrolment over the past decade which has averaged around 2.5% per annum in Zambia (World
Development Indicators, 2013). The Malawian education sector is an important case study to
consider here. In 1994 primary education was made free, leading to an immediate increase in
enrolment. 17,000 untrained teachers were given 3 week courses and sent into schools around

23. 23
Malawi to cope. This forced the percentage of untrained teachers in schools up to around 42% in
Malawi (Kunje and Stuart, 1999). A similar situation has occurred in Zambia. With the introduction
of free education in 2002, net enrolment leapt up by 18% by 2004, but there was no accompanying
increase in trained teachers. Mullens et al. (1996) consider teacher training as essential in the
context of a quality education. They argue that student achievement is largely dependent on
teacher’s knowledge of subject matter, particularly beyond basic skills. Therefore, with the
situation in Zambia as it is with reference to trained teachers, education quality is suffering.
The results of this imbalance have been shown in this study and the conclusion makes
another criticism of the UN’s second MDG. The goal for attaining 100% enrolment has diluted the
number of qualified teachers to students in Zambia and so quality education has suffered despite
UNESCO and their Education for All movement highlighting the importance of education quality.
As mentioned in the previous section of the results, the second MDG aims to achieve equality in the
form of offering every child access to education. However this section of the results show that
education systems, such as the one in Zambia, is not fair nor equal. Whilst many children benefit
from learning from a fully qualified, engaging and enthusiastic teacher others are expected to
progress from primary school having learnt from community volunteers whom may have only
achieved primary school education themselves. This evidence is clearly contradictory to the UN’s
aims therefore and completion of 100% universal enrolment would mask important underlying
problems such as the high proportion of unqualified teachers being employed.
The true impact of using unqualified teachers in schools will be best shown in the final
section of the results as this part looks at teaching style. Teaching style is critical with regards to a
quality education and is greatly influenced by teacher backgrounds.
Figure 3. Zambia’s
adjusted net
enrolment rate.
Source: World
Development
Indicators (WDI),
October 2013

24. 24
iv. Teaching style
The final aspect of the results focuses on the teaching styles which are employed within
Zambian schools. Appropriate teaching style is debated as much in the Global North as it is in the
South as it is undoubtedly hugely important within the context of quality education. In this section
results from the previous three research questions will be tied in to show how teaching style is
influenced by the physical environment and the backgrounds of teachers.
The first aspect of teaching style which I investigated concerned the use of learning by rote
and meaningful learning techniques. The former practice concerns learning through repetition
whilst the latter focuses on the transferring of knowledge. Each technique has its place within broad
teaching styles, but Richard Mayer documents the most effective means of teaching and it is this
framework that I shall be using to analyse teaching style in Zambia.
Figure 4 represents the results given by African Impact volunteers when asked which style
of teaching they witnessed taking place most often in the classrooms they were assisting in. All 15
volunteers reported that the teachers they were assisting would regularly teach through learning by
rote methods with just 6 saying that meaningful leaning techniques were also often employed.
Richard Mayer (2002) found that a combination of learning by rote and meaningful learning were
crucial for a quality education; ‘two of the most important educational goals are to promote
retention and to promote transfer,’ (Mayer 2002: 226). Mayer found that learning by rote only
teaches a child to absorb knowledge but not to make sense of it and therefore means they are unable
to reconstruct this knowledge in different academic situations and problems. Whilst learning by rote
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Regular use of
rote learning
Regular use of
meaningful
learning
Teaching style
was engaging
and interactive
Teaching style
was not
engaging or
interactive
Number of volunteers
Figure 4
Data taken from focus group
at African Impact, 28th May,
2013.
Teaching Styles used in Schools

25. 25
is perhaps an important aspect of a young student’s education, academic literature shows that there
must be progression in teaching style as a child gets older (Haskell, 2001).
From my study, I found that learning by rote is by the far the more common practise
employed in schools. Repetition and memorization formed the basis of learning in lessons taken by
teachers. In lessons I took the results of learning by rote were clear to see. For example, children
would easily be able to repeat times tables but when they were presented with a singular
multiplication; 3x9 for instance, they would immediately recite the entire three times table to obtain
the answer. This shows that the transfer of knowledge from initially learning something is not well
developed in children; this is a result of the teaching style. Leaning by rote is not simply restricted
to maths; it is used in every subject from grammatical rules to HIV education.
The facilities used to teach in and the training teachers receive has significant influences on
teaching style. Ruth Banda, a grade three teacher, explained that having fewer children in the class
would allow for more interaction in lessons, but with the classroom restrictions, this was not always
possible. She went on to say that dictating in lessons was the easiest and most efficient way of
reaching the whole class before acknowledging that, for the individual, it is more difficult to learn
this way. Ruth Banda is an experienced, qualified teacher and yet she uses a teaching style which is
widely criticised, however, given the environment she must work in, it is perhaps her only option –
Banda, R (26/5/2013).
A further impact class sizes have on teaching style concerns feedback on work. When I
assisted Mr. Mwanda I found that work is always marked with a tick or a cross with very few
corrections or annotations. In an interview with the teacher, an explanation was given for this. He
felt that it was far too time consuming to be able to fully correct each student on each piece of work
they would complete, especially as there were over 50 students in his class and he only had the
opportunity to mark work during break times which lasted 30 minutes. This issue of feedback is
related to the learning by rote approach. It is easiest to mark work that has a right and wrong answer
rather than a discursive answer, which would be different for each child. Furthermore, he discussed
how learning by rote was the simplest method for teaching such a large class and as he had not
completed a diploma in teaching this was the only method he felt comfortable with. Teaching style
is therefore closely linked to the backgrounds of the teachers and the physical environment they
work in.
The second aspect of teaching style which I investigated was corporal punishment, a
practice which is illegal in Zambia but one that is still common in classrooms. Government posters
such as the one shown over the page (Plate 3) are found in many classrooms as a reminder to
teachers that physical punishment is not an approach that should be taken to discipline children. 11

26. 26
out of 15 volunteers I surveyed had witnessed teachers physically punishing students. These
punishments ranged from clips around the ear to hitting children on the legs 4 or 5 times with
implements such as a length of garden hose. One volunteer spoke about how students from other
classes had been sent to see her teacher she was assisting
just so that they could be punished with a stick.
In two informal focus groups with 6 children in
each, over half had experienced physical punishment at
some point in school. When asked if they disliked the use
of corporal punishment, 3 students said they were fearful
of the teacher and being hit, 2 felt that the punishments
did not hurt them whilst many of the others felt it was a
fair way of stopping fighting in the classroom and
keeping quiet.
In an interview with the Deputy Head Teacher of Nakatindi, Christopher Musonda, the
acknowledgment was made that corporal punishment was being exercised by many of the teachers.
He reluctantly argued that with such large classroom sizes the build-up of noise and fighting
between students occurs so frequently that the use of physical punishment was required. He went on
to say that the students, particularly the younger ones, needed to learn to respect their teacher and to
behave appropriately. Corporal punishment therefore is regarded in schools as a means to display
authority, and by doing this the children would understand that their teacher was in charge.
The effect corporal punishment has on the education of a student has been debated strongly.
One report commissioned by Save the Children on corporal punishment in Zambian schools looks
at how children can be negatively affected by the threat of physical violence in school. The report
shows how continuous threats of punishment led to higher rates of absences. This is often the
decision of parents who don’t allow their children to go to school if they are being hit and beaten.
UNICEF (2000:9) also argue that corporal punishment is not an appropriate method of discipline;
‘learning cannot take place when the basic needs of survival and self-protection are threatened.’
Regular attendance at school by pupils is an obvious requirement in achieving a good
education and so factors which influence higher rates of absence must be taken seriously. Fuller
(1999) examines how a student’s ‘opportunity to learn’ has a clear relationship with achievement.
Numerous studies, including that of Miske, Dowde et al, (1998) found that in Malawi, children who
attended regularly achieved more in their studies and had a lower rate of repeating the year. It is not
clear from my study as to whether absences attributable to corporal punishment are frequent. The
most common reason for absences, given by students, was in order to care for sick family members,
not through fear of being physically punished at school. What can be drawn from this study is that
Plate 3
Source: Authors own (2013)

27. 27
some children are affected by corporal punishment more than others. Within the context of the
report from Save the Children, the students who admitted they were fearful of the teacher indicated
that their classroom was not an effective learning environment. As for the students who did not
seem concerned by being hit by the teacher, there is the possibility that they did not want to come
across as afraid to their peers in the focus groups for this study, or were perhaps worried that their
teacher may not approve of what they were saying. Whilst the use of corporal punishment is
regarded by the West as a cruel and ineffective method of teaching, the situation is very different in
Zambia where class sizes are so large and the practice is viewed by teachers and approximately
55% of students as an effective means to control the class. When asked what the students believed
to be a better punishment (Figure 5) such as being sent out of lessons or made to stay in the
classroom during break, the children categorically rejected these alternatives and accepted that
occasionally being hit on the legs was more favourable. The attitude of the vast majority of children
was that missing any school lessons was the most severe punishment and was the most upsetting,
more so than physical punishment. Perhaps, therefore, whilst corporal punishment in schools is
strongly condemned by much academic literature, this study found that the more pressing issue was
to reduce class sizes rather than criticise teaching methods in extremely difficult conditions.
Furthermore, the use of corporal punishment as a means to control a class indicates a lack of
appropriate training. A fully qualified teacher should be able to hold the class’ attention without
needing to resort to violence. However, as it has been shown in the teacher background element of
the results, not all teachers have been trained to deal with large classrooms and disobedient children
in a way that is conducive to learning.
Analysing the teaching style being used in Zambia is a complex issue because of the range
in teachers. Whilst much of my results has criticised teachers using rudimentary teaching techniques
and excessive disciplinary actions I would conclude that I found the teachers in Livingstone to be
extremely dedicated and hard working. Teachers in Livingstone have immensely difficult jobs
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Physical
Punishment
Sent out of
lesson
Spending break
in the
classroom
Writing lines Tidying
classrooms
'Favoured' punishmentsfor students
Number of students
Figure 5
Data collected from two
focus groups at Nakatindi
Community School.
25th/26th May, 2013

28. 28
given the resources and conditions they must work under. Therefore, if there was a significant
increase in the number of schools and provisions of resources as well as a greater drive to train
teachers, the results could be miraculous in terms of student attainment levels. Despite this, the
UN’s millennium development goals do not emphasise the importance of these factors. The huge
increase in student enrolment since the inception of the MDGs has exacerbated the number of good
quality schools and teachers leading to a decline in quality as shown by the fall in attainment levels
over the same period.

29. 29
5. Conclusion
Main Findings
From my research I have made a number of key findings linking back to my research questions:
- The curriculum used in Zambian schools is well structured and offers teachers and students
a quality basis for learning as it conforms to UNICEF’s characteristics for a quality
curriculum.
- The school buildings in Livingstone and the quality of resources within them, more often
than not, offered an effective learning environment. The buildings were designed and
constructed to a high standard with few exceptions. However the capacity of these schools
has been far exceeded and so in effect the schools are not effective environments. The
construction of new schools is desperately needed to dilute class sizes.
- The number of untrained teachers in Livingstone has impacted upon the style of teaching
which is inappropriate and ineffective compared with western methods and concepts.
- Quality education is not being provided in Zambia due to the shortfall in funding for
resources, facilities and the training of teachers.
Having established these key findings above, I would conclude that the UN’s ends based
method for setting development goals has not achieved meaningful results. In 2015 it is more than
likely, given the progress that has been made in the past 14 years, that Zambia along with many
other developing nations will report back to the UN that they have successfully achieved 100% net
enrolment. Whilst this is a substantial accomplishment, it masks other significant elements of the
education system, in particular, the quality of education being provided.
This study is important as it shows that whilst an ends based goal is the only option for a global
scale development project, this method lacks accuracy in attempting to bring about positive change
(Rigg, 2008). This has led me to the conclusion that perhaps the UN is not an appropriate
development actor as Global South countries are far from homogenous and attempting to develop
them all under an umbrella scheme is doomed to fail. Furthermore, the damage caused by achieving
this development goal could be extensive. Financial aid flows are likely to slow in response to the
‘success’ Zambia has achieved with respect to its education system as donors may believe that
financial support is no longer needed (Baulch, 2006). However, Zambia needs aid more than ever to
help its education sector provide more schools and more trained teachers. Only when these two
huge problems have been resolved can Zambia start offering quality education to its student
population and thus experience all the benefits that a strong education system can bring in the socio-
economic development of a nation.

30. 30
Evaluation
I believe this study has made important steps towards measuring education development in
the Global South beyond quantitive methods focused on enrolment percentages, attainment levels
and grade repetitions. Quality education can only be measured effectively by methods similar to the
ones used in this study such as participating in the classroom environment and interviewing the key
groups involved, namely, teachers and students. I would therefore argue that more academic
literature needs to be focused on the qualitative aspects of education to measure progress and to
consider the effectiveness of development schemes.
The extensiveness of this study was limited by time and cost constraints. However, if I was
to expand on this study in the future I would look towards assessing the state of education in more
rural areas. The reach of development schemes is often restricted to urban areas and so the results in
more geographically isolated places would add to the findings of this study which was confined to
Livingstone. Furthermore, I would have liked to investigate how development targets which were
focused on primary school education had influenced secondary schools.
Words: 9,596

31. 31
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Appendix A
Interview Participants:
i. Christopher Musonda Deputy Head teacher at Nakatindi 25.5.2013
ii. Mr. Mwanda Primary school teacher 19.5.2013
ii. Ruth Banda Primary school teacher 26.5.2013
iv. Grace Siamani Parent and school committee member 28.5.2013
v. Shelley Tompkins Volunteer co-ordinator at African Impact 24.5.2013
vi. Memory Mundia Co-ordinator for Happy Africa Foundation 3.6.2013
vii. Jenny Evans African Impact Volunteer 2.6.2013
African Impact Volunteers: Jonny Carter, Katie Evans, Axie Finch, Sat Nadarajah, Sigurbjörg
Jóhannsdóttir, Tina Fagen, Susan Baker, Paula Reynolds, John Caravello, Leanne Farish
Focus Groups:
i. Nakatindi Community School 25.5.2013
ii. Nakatindi Community School 26.5.2013
iii. Linda Primary School 2.6.2013
iv. African Impact volunteers 28.6.2013

35. 35
Interviews Questions:
Deputy Head and Teacher – Christopher Masonda
- What is your opinion of teaching in English rather than Tonga?
- What is the importance of teaching the ‘life skills’ course?
- In the UK, class sizes rarely exceed 30 students; how difficult therefore is it to teach a class
of 50-60 students?
- Is there a shortage of adequate learning materials? (If so) What impact does this have?
- What qualifications/training is required to become a teacher at (….) school?
- What are the implications of having untrained teachers in school?
- What is the most common reason for teacher absences?
- Which teaching method do you favour; learning by rote or meaningful learning? (Clarity
needed)
- What techniques do you use to control your class?
- What is your opinion of corporal punishment? Do you ever employ this form of
punishment?
Parent and school committee member - Grace Siamani
- What influences do the community have in making decisions at Nakatindi School?
- What is the importance of teaching the ‘life skills’ course?
- How flexible is the curriculum at Nakatindi?
- How often is a community member drafted in to the school to act as a voluntary teacher?
Volunteer co-ordinator at African Impact - Shelley Tompkins
- Do you regard the quality of school buildings as conducive to learning in Livingstone?
- What are the priorities for African Impact concerning Livingstone’s schools?
Project co-ordinator for Happy Africa Foundation Memory Mundia
- How widespread is the issue of untrained teachers in Livingstone and Zambia?
- What aspects of quality education is the Happy Africa Foundation attempting to target?
African Impact Volunteer Jenny Evans
- What problems did you encounter having over 50 students in the class?
- How did you alter your teaching style in Zambia, compared with the UK, given the
conditions?
- How often, if at all, would the teacher for your class be absent?

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- Which teaching method did you observe most often; learning by rote or meaningful
learning?
- In the classroom how would the teacher attempt to control the students?
- Did the teacher ever use corporal punishment?
Focus Groups
Nakatindi + Linda:
- How do you feel about learning all subjects in English?
- What do think about having a class with over 50 students in it?
- Do you find the pace of lessons goes quickly or slowly?
- What do you feel about being hit by your teacher?
- Do you think being punished by being hit is fair?
- What punishments would you favour instead?
African Impact:
- What would be the most common teaching technique used by teachers they were assisting?
- What were the difficulties involved with taking lessons they found?
- How many volunteers witnessed the teacher they were assisting hit the students?
- How often would a volunteer be left alone with the class as the teacher was absent?
Appendix B
Interview Results
Deputy Head Teacher – Christopher Masundo
 Despite the curriculum being printed in English, teachers often clarify points in Tonga, to
help students understand different points.
 ‘Life Skills’ is very important given the current situation in Zambia concerning HIV/AIDs
and malaria. Schools have an important part to play in educating children not just on literacy
and numeracy but an awareness of present day Zambia too.
 You can’t complain about class numbers, you just get on with it. Yes there are too many
children in each class but… (Reluctant acceptance). It is survival of the fittest for which
students go on to secondary schools. Over 80 primary schools in Livingstone but just 4
secondary.
 The school would always attempt to hire trained professionals but with a lack of finances
this was very difficult. Government quota of teachers is to have one per grade and so at
Nakatindi there should be 8 trained teachers paid by the government. This still left a
shortfall as in most the grades there were 2 classes. Volunteer teachers were needed at the
school to cope with the shortfall. Often coming from the community.
 Most common reason for absence is illness in teachers.

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 Corporal punishment was exercised by some teachers despite the government saying this
was an ineffective and unlawful way of treating students. With such large class sizes it is
argued that CP displays authority and the class can be controlled better.
Community member and temporary teacher – Mr. Mwanda
 Teaching in English has its difficulties and often means explaining points twice, once in
English and again in Tonga. As the textbooks are printed in English it means that some
children struggle to work independently from the book.
 One issue with teaching such a large class was that it makes marking work very time
consuming. As a result he would usually mark with a tick or a cross rather than a lot of
annotations and feedback.
 Learning by rote was the easiest method of teaching he felt as he had not completed a
diploma in teaching.
Parent and committee member – Grace Siamani
 The community has an equal say in school decisions along with the head teachers. Decisions
for example on staffing, curriculum and arrangements with NGOs are all discussed.
 Learning about life skills may not get a child a job but it could save their life. It is a very
important aspect of school life, one that did not exist in my time at school. The fairly recent
introduction of life skills explains the current situation in Zambia with the high rates of HIV
and other viruses and diseases. The education of these issue should help to combat the
problem in future.
 The curriculum is largely left alone as the government text books and syllabus are of good
quality. However, at Nakatindi new schemes have been introduced to teach children about
more relevant topics such as agriculture. Most of our children will not have the opportunity
to go on to secondary school; instead they are likely to go into agriculture or become manual
labourers or factory workers. It is therefore relevant to teach them about agriculture as well
as numeracy, literacy and other common aspects of the curriculum.
 Community members are usually drafted into the school when teachers are absent or the
school cannot afford to pay for a trained teacher. Mr.. Mwanda for example was a college
student from the community who had been asked to work for the past 3 months.
Volunteer co-ordinator at African Impact - Shelley Tompkins
 The quality of school buildings in Livingstone is good compared with other regions she has
worked in such as Zimbabwe but they cannot accommodate the sheer number of children in
the classroom. This means that it is still hard to learn despite having a good quality
classroom. Similarly the lack of text books is a massive problem facing schools. 7 or 8
children sometimes have to share one book meaning that there are often children who have
to read the textbooks from upside down. Repetition of this situation led to one child learning
to read upside down, without the ability to read normally. It took three months of one to one
tuition by Shelley to teach the student how to read correctly.

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 The priorities for African Impact are to get children learning to read and write in English. It
is this skill that most children struggle with most and yet it is also one of the most important
as the curriculum is taught and written in English. Generally volunteers are English
speaking; British, American, Canadian, Australian and so they can have greatest help in
teaching English, both reading and writing.
Project co-ordinator for Happy Africa Foundation - Memory Mundia
 Estimates that around 30% of teachers were not fully qualified in Livingstone. This is due to
a combination of; a shortage in training of teachers by the government to keep pace with
increased enrolment and HIV rates in teachers are very high and so the number of trained
teachers has fallen.
 The Happy Africa Foundation attempts to correct two key statistics; Around 38% of Sub-
Saharan Africa (167 million people) still lack basic literacy skills (UNESCO). Four out of
ten children in Africa do not complete primary school (UNESCO 2002/03). Their strategy
attempts to improve basic English skills as well as addressing the high rates of grade
repetition and student absence.
African Impact Volunteer - Jenny Evans
 Compared with the UK, the number of children in each class is shocking. It makes it very
difficult to control the class as there are always arguments going on somewhere. Also, it is
very difficult to try and help individuals as there are too many children who need help for
one teacher to address. It is therefore similarly difficult to give feedback on work as marking
50 exercise books is very time consuming.
 It is very frustrating trying to teach a class as big as the one in Livingstone because it is
more difficult to build up interaction between the teacher and individual student. The
teachers in Zambia have an incredibly difficult task but do an amazing job given the
conditions.
 During the two weeks she spent with her class the teacher missed 4 days. Her second day at
the school, she was left on her own as the teacher was absent. She therefore had to
improvise with no lesson plans and very little knowledge of the timetable, student abilities
and teaching material. It was explained to her later on that her teacher had missed the days at
school because she was studying for her diploma in teaching (which she had not yet
obtained). Speaking to the students of her class, Jenny found that when the teacher does not
turn up and there are no volunteers, the students turn around and walk home as there will be
no teacher for them. They found this frustrating as they love to go to school.
 Learning by rote and meaningful learning were used equally in different lessons.
 The teacher would often hit the children if they were misbehaving. She would use a cane
around 3ft long to hit children on the legs. It was also the case that children would be sent
from other classrooms to be punished by the teacher.

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Focus Group Results
Nakatindi:
 English is very difficult for them to learn. Some of them find it easier than others. They
prefer when their teacher speaks Tonga in lessons. They found my lessons difficult
sometimes to understand what has happening as I was not able clarify points in Tonga. They
will help each to understand English. They think it is important to learn English as many of
them want to be teachers when they are older and so know that they will need to learn
English well to do this.
 Having 50 of them makes it difficult to concentrate. There are often fights and arguments in
the classroom because they are cramped on benches and have little amount of space on their
desks. But they would not want smaller classes because they like being at school with their
friends. Instead they would like bigger classrooms with more desks and benches. Another
problem is that there aren’t enough text books, however if each of them had their own text
book and exercise book they would not have enough space on the desks so sharing books is
not too bad.
 2 of them found lessons went slowly saying that if they were set an exercise from the book
they could finish well before the end of the lesson and so would have nothing to do. 4 others
felt the lessons went quickly and found it difficult to keep pace with what was being taught
particularly in English and maths lessons.
 3 students did not like being hit. 2 felt that the punishments did not hurt and so didn’t deter
them. Many others felt it was a fair way of stopping fights and keeping the class quiet.
Favoured punishments were 6 – corporal punishment, 5 – writing lines, 1 for tidying
classrooms.
African Impact:
 All 15 volunteers reported that teachers they assisted would regularly use learning by rote
methods. 6 said that meaningful learning was as common in the classes they were in. 7
found lessons engaging and interactive, 8 found the opposite.
 11 volunteers had witnessed first-hand teachers hitting the children. Punishments ranged
from clips around the ear to being hit 4 or 5 times around the legs with implements such as a
length of garden hose.
 Problems: teaching at Mwandi was significantly more difficult than elsewhere. The design
of the school was very poor and meant that the classrooms would get very hot, combined
with the number of students, the classrooms felt like saunas. Also little natural light would
come into the classrooms. All the volunteers found that fighting was common but it was
understandable given the cramped nature of the desks. Students were always eager to learn
and do well which meant they would regularly cheat off each other.
 Most volunteers were always with their teacher in the classroom. 4 had at least 1 day
teaching without supervision.

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Appendix C
Plate 5: Nakatindi’s Grade 5. Source: Authors own (2013)
Plate 6: Nakatindi’s motto, written on the side of the school building, reads
‘Quality Education For All’. Source: Authors own (2013)
Plate 4: Nakatindi Community School. Source: Authors own (2013)

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Plate 9: Afterschool art class taking
place at Mwandi Community School.
Source: Authors own (2013)
Plate 8: Mr Mwanda, Nakatindi’s
grade 5 teacher.
Source: Authors own (2013)
Plate 7: Afterschool literacy class
taking place at Linda Primary school.
Source: Authors own (2013)