Pregnancies among pupils worry authorities

By Peter Mwiinga School authorities at Tungi Primary School in Mongu District, in Western Province have expressed grave concern at the high rate of pregnancies among school pupils at the school. Tungi Primary School teacher Ms. Nawa Nyambe says the number of school drop outs at the school due to pregnancy is alarming. Ms. Nawa was speaking when Mongu Children News Agency - MCNA during an interview with the members. She disclosed that more than 35 pupils last year dropped out of school due to pregnancies. Ms. Nawa attributed the scenario to lack of sex education in schools and some due to poverty among their households which has forced pupils from distant places to rent houses in nearby villages. She pointed out that this has made the girl-child vulnerable to casual and illicit sex. Ms. Nawa said construction of boarding facilities at the school would greatly help to put a stop to causal and illicit sex which has resulted in the present scenario. Meanwhile, Ms. Nawa has attributed the low pass rate at the school to lack of commitment to duty by some teachers who previously manned the school. He added that lack of teaching aids and other school materials also contributed to the low pass rate at the school. He said government is committed to providing the necessary prerequisites to better the pass rate at the school.

Katongo primary school pupils learning on floor.

By Peter Mwiinga Some pupils at Katongo Primary School in Mongu District are learning on floor due to inadequate classrooms desks. Mongu Children News Agency – MCNA members visited the school, during their tour of child rights projects who found some pupils learning sitting on the floor because of a shortage of classrooms desks. A school teacher, Mr. Sibeso Nyambe (not his real name) told the MCNA members that lack of classroom desks for school pupils has put the school management under pressure to look into the issues of increasing classroom desks. Mr. Nyambe said the school needs more classroom desks to contend with the increase in the number of pupil enrolments. “As you can see reporters, we are forced to teach some pupils on the floor due to inadequate classroom desks as the number of pupils being enrolled is on the upswing,” said Mr. Nyambe. Mr. Nyambe also said lack of new teaching materials in Silozi language has affected pupil’s performance. “We do not have the new syllabus in Silozi and you will find that for instance pupils in grade two are still doing syllabus for grade one because we have not yet received the new teaching materials in Silozi for grade two,” said Mr. Nyambe. The information was backed by the school records pass rate for all pupils at the school in 2015 examination results. However, Mr. Nyambe praised the teachers for accepting to work at the school and urged them to continue working hard as government was committed to addressing a myriad of challenges facing the education sector.

IMPORTANCE OF SETTING A CAREER AT A TENDER AGE

By Chaya Tembo Career setting in a young person’s life is important because it gives the young people the ability to strive hard and reach out to what they want to become in future. For a young one to be able to set a proper career one must be guided on what career can be good for them. Career guidance is important at every school because the information given is very useful in that it helps young people to be on the right track when it comes to choosing a career. Another requirement a young one needs to be able to set a proper career is a mentor. The Engineering Institution of Zambia Southern Regional President engineer William.K.Mulusa gave a speech during a career talk that was held on the 11th of July 2015 at Chrismar Hotel under the theme,’ take engineering as a career’. He said, "for you to succeed in your career in future, you need a mentor who inspires you and whom you look up to." Another essential requirement that is also needed for one to be able to set a proper career was a suggestion given by a grade 11 pupil from St Raphaels Secondary School, Saviour Siawela who suggested that if a role model such as a doctor, accountant, journalist were invited as part of career guidance they would encourage, inspire, teach and motivate them as children to take up certain professions. Apart from the requirements that are essential for one to choose a proper career the pupils also feel setting a career at a tender age is important. "I think setting a career at a tender age is important because you get to decide what you want to do in future or after your education" said a grade 11 pupil Ireen Pumulo from David Livingstone Secondary School. She further gave an example of her cousin who she said completed her grade 12 but didn't know what course of career to take because she didn't set any career when she was still at a tender age. There are many matters that affect young people like group influence which leads them to lose focus on issues such as getting more information about their career choices and being focused on their education. In most schools there are teachers that offer counselling to the young people on the issues that affect them. The Author of this article is a member of the Children’s News Agency (CNA) Livingstone Bureau, cnazambia@gmail.com

Situation of schools in Zambia

By Matildah Kaniki, I am going to talk about some of the material missing in most schools. The government in Zambia does not provide adequate reading materials for the pupils to read in schools Government must provide for schools reading magazines so that when they read them, they get some information and take it to their parents even though the parents do not like reading them. Government must aim at giving a voice to children in Zambia and also in other countries, inspire them to feel that they can make a difference to the development of their society and build their confidence to take part in the public debates, because the more the children debate, the more they become good at productive things. Government must also be a channel for advocacy for child’s rights issues. An advocate of something is someone who support it publicly. The other problem that the pupils are facing in schools is shortage of computers or a complete lack of. The government has introduced the study of computers yet it has provided for them insufficient computers and for this reason, the pupils are complaining that they are not learning any more. They are putting pupils in groups of ten to work on one computer. In addition, computer studies is advantageous because some people who have studied computer and know how to operate them can look for employment in private companies where there computers and others can join in government in order to reduce unemployment. There is also the shortage of apparatus in laboratories in most of the schools. Pupils are failing pure science in high schools because they need some more. Doing more practical’s help pupils be able to see with their eyes and also analyse what they see so that they may narrate to their friends and easier to remember during exams and during theory. There are also shortages of teaching equipment like pieces of chalk. There is need for the government to provide children with the materials I have spoken about because they provide children with a conducive environment enabling them to reach their potential. The Author of this article is a member of the Children’s News Agency (CNA), Lusaka Bureau, cnazambia@gmail.com