Proposal To Include Road Safety In Zambia's School Curriculum

A mangled Mazhandu Family Bus Services coach

By Pumulo Mungoma

Probably just like you, I love to share with family and friends my memorable days as a primary school child in the early 1990s at Nakambala Basic School on the sugarcane plantations of Zambia’s sweetest town, Mazabuka. 

I vividly recall how my “veteran” class teacher, a Mrs Munyama, would make us sing beautiful songs before and after classes!  Like many other pupils of our time, one of the almost “compulsory” songs we sang was a road safety melody that went like: “I want to cross the road; look right, look left, and look right again…..”  You remember the song? We sang this song with passion. It was a road safety reminder as we crossed many roads to and from school.  The song enhanced our road safety consciousness.  Today, alas, the picture seems different.

Zambia joined the rest of the world in commemorating the 2014 Zambia Road Safety Week from 14th to 20th December, which was spearheaded by the Road Transport Safety Agency- under the banner; “We Are ALL Pedestrians”.  The agency sought to educate pedestrians on how to protect themselves against road traffic accidents. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared the first-ever “Decade of Action for Road Safety” which paved the way for a declaration and action plan adopted by the African Heads of States in January 2012; which brought the challenge of road safety to the forefront of development.

Meanwhile, it remains an open secret that Zambia has one of the worst road traffic accidents record in the world; just short of being declared a national disaster. According to the Zambian Road Safety Trust, a total number of 4,211 persons died due to road traffic accident in the last two years alone, with many others left in helpless conditions due to road traffic injuries. Sorrowfully, among that statistic is one grade 9 boy I was teaching at a school I am serving at in Kafue district of central Zambia who was killed by a car as he was cycling to school early in the morning. Sad memories of the loss of the late bright boy.

The majority of those affected by road traffic accidents are the vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, with a good number being school children.  Road traffic accidents lead to a burden in terms of deaths, injuries and related costs. Unfortunately there is a low priority to obviate the problem, in the same way that many people have lost their guard against road safety.  With the ever growing motorization, the picture in Zambia may even be worse if nothing is done.

What needs to be done?  I propose to make road safety education as part of the school curriculum. Road safety should not only be taught to drivers at a driving school but must include all citizens beginning with school going children.  With such an initiative, there would be the change (for the better) of mindset of road users, regardless of whether they are travelling on roads or pavements.

Evidence from a number of countries show that there can be dramatic success in preventing road traffic deaths and injuries when there is a coordinated, multi-sectoral responses to the problem; which should include the inclusion of more elaborate road safety lessons in the school curriculum.   Guaranteeing road safety may be difficult and long, due to many factors such as continued inadequate road safety institutional capacity, inadequate funding and weak technical leadership.  

We need to go beyond just Road Transport Safety Agency helping with children crossing the roads through the traffic wardens employed nationwide. The formulation of road safety school curriculum would prove relevant in reducing road traffic accidents as every citizen who has passed through school will have the basic data, information and knowledge on road safety- instead of leaving such road safety education provisions in the hands of the Zambia Police and the Road Transport Safety Agency only. School curriculum framework will help influence citizens’ behavior from childhood to adulthood as road users, by improving their knowledge of the causes and consequences of road traffic accidents, and how to avoid them.

In Zambia, it is even surprising to know that most people do not even know that the pedestrians must move on the right hand side of the road. Everything on the road for most pedestrians is a “changanya” affair.  You will agree with me that by learning about road safety in school, pupils can start to develop appropriate skills and knowledge that will help make them safer in the road environment.  It is my prayer that government will bend to this proposal in the love of seeing a reduction in road traffic accidents. Every Zambian from childhood must take a role to improve the safety of Zambia’s roads as individuals, and by working together. This can only be a realistic with education.

Road safety education is an important life skill that should be provided to children as early as pre-school, and continue through to the end of secondary school- with varying topics being covered depending on the age of the pupils.  For example, young children can be taught about holding hands with their parents when near the road, older children can be taught about wearing bicycle helmets, and teenagers can be taught about safe driving. Starting road safety education will hopefully mean that these children will have good attitudes and skills first as pedestrians and cyclists, and then, when they start driving.

This will also demand that teachers are also equipped about road safety education training from their respective teacher tertiary institutions so as to effectively deliver road safety education. The teachers could also give parents the information they may need to reinforce the lessons the pupils have been taught in school so that the “remedy” stands the taste of time.

I am aware that the introduction of a school curriculum framework on road safety will not end all road traffic accidents, but will surely provide a significant reduction in their occurrence as it is more likely that when equipped with road safety education Zambian citizens will develop a sense of responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others all the time.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pumulo is a Zambian educator, trade unionist and a writer on matters that relate to the education policy.  He also works with various education-based organisations such as the Zambian Teachers Forum.

Cell phone: +260-954-623860

Email: epm1983@yahoo.com; pumulo@teachersforum.org.zm

www.teachersforum.org.zm

MICHAEL SATA: A Champion for Quality Education

Late President Sata greeting pupils from Sioma

By Pumulo Mungoma
 

Since the demise of Zambia’s fifth President, Michael Chilufya Sata in October 2014 in London, the issue that has occupied the minds of many Zambians is the legacy that he has left behind. 

This article looks at some key contributions made by the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) to the education sector under the leadership of President Sata- since the party came to power in September, 2011.

Allow me to first join fellow Zambians in expressing sincere condolences to the nation and first family on the death of President Sata.

A lot has been said about 77-year old President Sata’s life, especially his perseverance in ascending to the highest office of the land. President Sata- himself a graduate in political science at Atlantic International University of the United States of America- ascended to the presidency on the preface to promote education as a corner stone for meaningful sustainable socio-economic development.

Teachers will no doubt remember President Sata for increasing their salaries from September 2013.  That was a great motivation to teachers so as to accelerate productivity and quality education.However, the wage increase is losing value due to wage freeze in the 2014 and 2015 national budgets. Was salary increment just an act of politicking when the head of state made a decision which is not backed by budgetary capacity?I am aware that government and unions having reached a stalemate on that matter, as unions have since declared the wage freeze as “illegal”. All in all, the increase was commendable!

Under the leadership of President Sata,a new national curriculum framework was introduced, which was officially launched at Lusaka’s Munali Secondary School early this year. Before this development, Zambia used a curriculum which was based on the 1966 repealed Education Act. As John Phiri- Minister of Education observes-  Zambia needs the new look at the curriculum as the 1966 Education Act had become “in many ways archaic and required serious attention.” (Ministerial Statement to Parliament, 21st February 2014). The new curriculum is currently being implemented at pre-school, grade 1, grade 5, grade 8 and grade 10. What come along with the new curriculum? 

The new curriculum framework offers learners with a choice of career pathways at secondary school; either academic or vocational pathways.  This responds to the developmental needs of the nation as well as those of the individual learner by according learners an opportunity to progress according to their abilities and interests.

Under the leadership of President Sata we witnessed the fruition of the introduction of early childhood education (pre-school), an educational provision for children between the ages of three and six.This helps in transiting smoothly these children into primary school.To compliment this, government recruited 1,000 early childhood teachers.

With such development, government continued to strengthen efforts towards the fulfilling of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, with a keen interest on MDG number two- “to achieve primary universal education”.  Varying records indicate above ninety percent (90%) of Zambian children of school going ages are enrolled in school. Of course, there is still need to improve quality education in as far as we need many learners to access the education.

There has been stable consideration in the national budget. In the 2015 national budget the education sector has received an allocation of 20%  out of the ZWK 46 billion grand total. Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda announced that 5,000 teachers will be employed nest year in order to close the teacher-pupil ratio gap, and sustain reasonable funding to schools, especially primary schools- in light of the re-introduced primary and secondary school system.Also, the government continued to support the re-entry policy for girls who fall pregnant in the need to promote girl-child education.

One other interesting and yet controversial aspect of the new curriculum is the allowance of teaching learners in a local familiar language from Grade 1-4, with English being introduced as a subject in grade two. This change enables young learners to easily acquire basic literacy, numeracy, scientific and technological knowledge, skills and valuesas teaching is done in a language they understand well. Of interest too is that a deliberate program is underway to take care of adult literacy among the citizenry.

Sata’s government incorporated the learning of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at primary and secondary school level so as to create ICT awareness among learners. Alas, the biggest challenge has been the lack of availability of learning materials and equipment for ICT. However, the move will in the long run improve relevance of the education sector due to a world that is becoming more and more computerized.

Robert Makasa University in Chinsali

Of great importance was the passing of the Teaching Profession Act by parliament. This led to the formation of the Teaching Profession Council which will license and regulate teachers. Additionally a board of directors has since been appointed for the Higher Education Council which will regulate colleges and universities, too.

When President Sata addressed the fourth session of the eleventh national assembly, on 19th September 2014, he gave an impressive report of the completion of construction of 41 of the 84 targeted new secondary schools. With the vision to establish at least one public university in each of the ten provinces, he had kick started the implementation with the now almost completed Robert Makasa and Paul Mushindo Universities. Yet, the construction of new universities brings to mind how government would manage to fund these universities given that it has failed to fund existing institutions sufficiently. Will this not magnify the problem with new universities? Probably a wait and see situation!

Additionally, there has been ongoing upgrading of colleges such as Mukuba, Kwame Nkrumah, Chalimbana into universities. Government too, signed a Memorandum of Understanding worth K21 million with DMI St. Eugene University where a total of 2,000 teachers were enrolled this year.This has made it easier for teachers to upgrade their qualifications.

There is no doubt that under the leadership of President Sata credibility was added to the management and administration of examinations in the country which saw a reduction in examination malpractice, especially leakages. Interestingly, some Grade 12 pupils on the Copperbelt protested and rioted in the name of having been accessing fake examination papers this year.

President Sata created not less than 30 new districts, and re-aligned some to new provinces as well as the creation of Muchinga province. This has enabled easier access to offices of the Provincial Education Officer and the District Education Board Secretary. Southern province in particular was lucky in that President Sata moved its provincial capital from Livingstone to centrally located Choma district. 

Michael Sata Bridge (formerly Chiawa Bridge)

Additionally, there was mass road construction and some bridges. One such bridge was named Michael Chilufya Sata, found in the Chiawa valley of Kafue district. In fact, one of the schools that this bridge connects is Chiawa Primary School, a school I served at on my first appointment for about three years.

President Sata was a supporter of trade unionism. You may recall that under his leadership his government the liftedthe ban of a teacher trade union, the Professional Teachers Union of Zambia (PROTUZ)- which had been banned shortly after registration by the previous government.  That is a gallant respect for teachers’ freedom of association. The Zambian education system now has four teacher unions namely the Basic Teachers’ Union of Zambia, Professional Teachers Union of Zambia, Secondary Teachers Union of Zambia, and the Zambia National Union of Teachers. However, in the eyes of the general teacher membership, teacher unions are yet to prove their effectiveness member representation.

Having discussed these contributions the former head of state and his team contributed to the nation, let me make mention that there are many challenges teachers still face, including the education system as a whole. These include lack of teachers’ accommodations, arduous transfer system,pathetic salary harmonization, inadequate teaching /learning materials, high girl-child pregnancy rates, high teacher pupil ratio, teachers’ poor conditions of service in private schools, limited bursary schemes at universities, none payments of settling in allowance, uncoordinated performance assessment and evaluation procedures,retirement age and pension contributions, etc.Government and stakeholders should find lasting solutions to these and many more problems in keeping alive the legacy of President Sata.

In conclusion, despite many challenges President Sata has been a good leader in promoting quality education- at least in education.In Tonga we say“sokwe utondezya bulowa bwakwe”- (translated, one needs to do his best within his means in a making a difference). For sure, President Sata tried his best, a solid foundation where his successor can begin from. As former South African president Nelson Mandela said:“Education is the greatest weapon you can use to change the world!”Here lies Michael Chilufya Sata; a champion and an ardent lover of education.

About the Author:

Pumulo Mungoma is a Zambian educationist, and a passionate writer on issues that relate to government education policy. He also works with some independent educational professional bodies.

Cell phone: +260954-623860

Email: epm1983@yahoo.com

THE SICHILONGO CASE: 10 Lessons to the Teaching Fraternity

Sr Chakupalesa and Mr Sichilongo reconciling

By Pumulo Mungoma

It is said that the wise learn from the mistakes of others as one may not live long enough to commit and learn from one’s own mistakes directly.  The recent turn of events by the walking to freedom of Mr. Daswell Sichilongo, the man who battered a Catholic nun and (Acting) Headteacher, Sister Emma Chakupalesa, of Roma Girls’ Secondary School has re-kindled a lot of debate. In a blink of an eye Mr. Sichilongo had turned himself into a “celebrity”; unfortunately for the bad reasons.

On the other hand, his case is ornamented with a lot of lessons. I wish to highlight 10 of the lessons that we can all learn from this rather unfortunate incident.

Sr. Chakupalesa met her fate after locking the institutional house occupied by Mr. Sichilongo, 53, a Science Teacher at the same school. Sister Chakupalesa locked Mr. Sichilongo’s house for alleged failure to pay a K1,500) for rentals. Mr. Sichilongo pounced on the nun with fierce punches after efforts by Mr. Sichilongo to discuss the matter in the presence of a MUVI TV crew were turned down by Sister Chakupalesa.

Mr. Sichilongo said he was disappointed that Sister Chakupalesa decided to lock his family out of the house despite that Sister Chakupalesa knew very well that his bank account had been blocked on a technicality.

But recently, Mr. Sichilongo walked to freedom after the complainant (Sr. Chakupalesa) withdrew the case. Sister Chakupalesa told Senior Resident Magistrate Aridah Chulu that she had opted to withdraw and seek reconciliation. Magistrate Chulu acceded to the withdrawal but warned that the case cannot be brought back to court.

From the onset, I wish to thank and appreciate that the two have agreed to seek reconciliation.  It is a discharged case now, and leaves behind lessons for all of us.  I now wish to share with you what I have outlined as the 10 lessons that every well-meaning citizen should learn from this case, especially for teachers. 

1. Considerate, Fair Administration is Key

From this incident, we can conclude that a person has no limits in retaliation when pushed to the edge. Man  can easily turn into a “beast” when pressed against the wall. He can fight back especially when his family members are either a target or direct victim too, of such an action.   

Mr. Sichilongo’s family was left in the cold and his children missed school especially at the time when pupils were sitting for their Mock Examinations.  The Bible teaches us to always remember to treat others the way you would want to be treated. Empathy needs to be expressed by administrators, especially when material facts are presented to them.

The case highlighted how the school administration acted so harshly on this matter. The extent of locking an institutional house for failure to pay K1,500 only was too harsh a consideration.  This is their teacher! Where can he run to if his own school and managers disown him?  The fact that Sr. Chakupalesa was Acting Headteacher, she needed to be more accommodating!  A little bit more of tolerance and benefit of doubt are necessary! Every human being deserves better treatment.

Good leadership as Headteachers is about being sensitive to the pressing needs of their subordinates, and respond appropriately.

2.      Gender-Based Violence at Display

The incident has shown that gender-based violence is more pronounced when a woman is the victim, while when it is the man it is less projected. We saw a united force mounted against Mr. Sichilongo in the name of the Sisters of Charity, the Zambia Episcopal Conference, the Catholic priests and the women movement in general. One Mongu (Western Province) based clergyman Priest Rev. Ignatius Lubasi Muyunda Chanakila said “beating a religious sister is sacrilegious (blasphemous).”  The solidarity the nun received from her Church should have shown that “blood is thicker than water!”

The incident has taught us that real men defend women and others. Real men are never used as bullets to turn defenseless women into punching bags! It was a reminder that violence, even a threat of violence, is a crime!

3.      Teacher Unionism Welfare

The teacher union to which Mr. Sichilongo belonged was not spared from drama.  The Secretary General of the union; Professional Teachers Union of Zambia (PROTUZ) Mr. Albert Muyembe had rushed to the media to issue statements condemning Mr. Sichilongo; likely not having known that he was their member.  The statement backfired after teachers condemned that decision to nail their member to the cross.  At least for PROTUZ they have learnt it the hard way that unionism is not about issuing media statements; it is about member representation, guidance and seeking appropriate correctional measures even when held in-camera.

It is good that PROTUZ managed to man up and clean their own mess.  They offered legal representation, a half-salary payment (as he was suspended by the DEBS for Lusaka) and other assistance to Mr. Sichilongo and his family. The turn of event in fact helped consolidate the belief that belonging to a teacher union is vital. The incident seems to have come at the right time when teacher unionism had lost confidence in its members.

4.      Bring Anger Under Control

We should not act out of anger instead wait for the time you are calm and collected because only then will you have a clear state of mind to make a good decision.  Do not act when you are angry because during that time your ability to reason well is “paused”. Everyone has the right to be angry, but that does not make one have right to be cruel.  The inability to control anger has been a great contribution to strained relations in families and work places!  It is virtuous to be quick to listen, but slow to speak and to anger.

Worse still, Mr. Sichilongo is just less than two years to retirement age. A long jail conviction on that count of assault of causing bodily may have guaranteed a dismissal from work and lose all his benefits. And you know what a dismissal would have meant for him and his family.

5.      Two Wrongs Cannot Make a Right

Fighting is never a good “hobby”; at least for teachers, and never will it be.  The experience of adults fighting paints a very bad picture to the children we teach and the reputation of the concerned teachers themselves. This affects the reputation of the school and the profession at large.  It should be known that kick-boxing is never an option to conflict management.

Teachers must exercise maximum restraint in times like that. To avoid finding yourself in such scenario, let teachers learn to have a swift communication procedure. This communication platform must be bound by mutual trust, respect and understanding.   If that effective channel was in place, currently there would be no such a case involving Mr. Sichilongo and Sister Chakupalesa.  It was such an unfortunate incident.

6.      Be Responsible, Communicate

In life we need to learn to “give Ceaser what belong to Ceaser” in time. To avoid inconveniences and problems with service providers like accommodation, we need to be responsible enough to pay our bills on time; where possible even pay in advance. Where you are unable to pay on time, it is good that you notify the other party in the agreement.  It is expected too that the other party should be ready to reason with you; and come up of agreed methods of dealing with defaults in payments.  Agreements can be breached or not honoured but that does not allow chaos in managing the breach or default in payment for the service offered.  This should apply even to other services like water, electricity, school fees, etc.

7.      A Litmus-Paper for Teacher Solidarity

The Sichilongo's case has acted as a litmus paper or barometer to see how united teachers are. Teachers must bear each other’s’ burdens.   A lot of teachers not only offered moral support but also financial and material support.  I know of one Lusaka based comrade who had offered to help the Sichilongo family with accommodation until their case is disposed of by the courts of law. Many teachers and none teachers used social media for solidarity and to raise thousands of funds to assist Mr. Sichilongo.

The spirit of a united Ubuntu (humanism) was shown. Of course, solidarity need to be extended to Sr. Chakupalesa as the incident has been so humiliating, painful and embarrassing to her; especially being a woman of the veil and that it happened on a TV camera, and the video has so far circulated widely on the internet. Commend the nun for her forgiving heart despite the embarrassment. Despite being a woman of the veil, her forgiving spirit is remarkable!

8.      Never Take Law The In Your Own Hands

No matter how tempted it i,s never take the law in your own hands.  There are many established channels for professionals to resolve conflicts apart from embarking on assault.  That way, when taken, it can be regrettable.

For example, Mr. Sichilongo had an option to seek help from his District Education Board Secretary for Lusaka or even further!  An intervention from there would have eased things. Being pro-active is key!

9.      There is Strength in the Word “Sorry”

A well-meant apology is a strength and not weakness. In fact an apology is a reserve of the strong and humble. The simple word “sorry” managed to save Mr. Sichilongo’s job, relationship with his boss and the Catholic Church as well as his strained reputation. It has been said that to err is human, but to forgive is divine. It is commendable that he apologized and the nun found room in her heart to forgive Mr. Sichilongo.

Love covers and conquers all multitudes of sin. I know the angels in heaven were ululating when Mr. Sichilongo and Sister Chakupalesa hugged each other in the peaceful spirit of reconciliation.  It was a sigh of relief for both!

10.  Sometimes We Need Arbitrators In Life

The better principle of social dialogue and conflict management did not prevail in the incident. When relationships turn sour, sometimes we take it for granted that we can resolve issues on our own. It is high time we started involving a third party when we reach a deadlock with other party in a contract or any relationship. There is need for an arbitrator (reconciler) in life.

The need for arbitration is also seen in the incident that led to the withdrawing of this case from the courts of law. For sure it is high time that we started seeking arbitrators hand when need arises even at the lowest level of conflict management.  Bembas say “icakukonka ulubilo bacinkonka ulubilo” (conflicts need to be solved as quickly as possible).

It is also a lesson that we should try by all means not to solve issues through the media. Rushing to MUVI TV was just so immature and a “cry baby” move on the part of Mr. Sichilongo when there were other administrative channels to be followed like seeking the help from the district education office.

In conclusion, it is clear that the key to withdraw the case from the court lay with Sister Chakupalesa, and for this she needs to be commended for the decision to forgive Mr. Sichilongo and move on with life as colleagues.  This is not to downgrade the humility shown by Mr. Sichilongo as well as other interested bodies mentioned in the article.  The precedence set by the results of the reconciliation and arbitration is very good, commendable and exemplary.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Pumulo Mungoma is a Zambian teacher, and has written a lot on many issues that relate to Zambia’s education policy. He also volunteers with a number of educational organisations and associations; among them is the Zambian Teachers Forum where he works as Education Policy Analyst and Researcher!  Phone contacts: +260954-623860. Email: epm1983@yahoo.com]