Zambians Applaud Government Performance On Education, See Free Education Policy As Beneficial

14 July 2025
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Edward Chibwili

Eight in 10 families say they have benefited from free schooling.

Key findings

  • Schools are unevenly distributed across the country: The share of Zambians who live within walking distance of a school ranges from about nine in 10 in the Copperbelt (92%), Northern (91%), and North-Western (90%) provinces to seven in 10 (70%) in Eastern Zambia. Rural residents are far less likely than urbanites to have a school nearby (72% vs. 94%).
  • Among adults who had contact with a public school during the preceding year, most (86%) say they found it easy to obtain the services they needed. But 15% say they had to pay a bribe
  • In 2022, nearly two-thirds (63%) of Zambians said school-age children in their community are "somewhat frequently" or "very frequently" not in school.
  • In some cases, girls face additional hurdles to attending school: One in 10 Zambians (10%) say families in their community "often" or "always" prevent girls from going to school because they prioritise boys' education, and 20% say teachers commonly discriminate against girls, harass them, or ask them for sexual favours.
  • Among Zambians with pupils or children in their family, eight in 10 (80%) say they have benefited from the country's free education policy.

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Research has consistently shown that education is a critical determinant of socioeconomic development (Runde, Bandura, & McLean, 2023). In line with Zambia's vision of becoming "a prosperous middle-income country by 2030" (Zambia Statistics Agency, 2021), the government's Eighth National Development Plan (2022-2026) and 2024-2029 Partnership Compact outline plans to enhance inclusive education and improve teaching quality (Ministry of Education, 2024a).

Efforts to expand access to education and improve educational outcomes include the Education for All (EFA) policy, introduced in 2021/2022, providing free education from early childhood to secondary-school levels in all government and community schools (Committee on Education, Science and Technology, 2023). Analysts say the policy has had mixed results, increasing access to education and learner enrolment while also putting pressure on existing educational resources, negatively affecting the quality of education (Mwelwa, Bwalya, & Chibwili, 2023).

Since taking office after the 2021 election, the administration has hired 41,422 teachers to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio and improve learning outcomes (Ministry of Education, 2024b). The government has also completed the construction of 151 secondary schools and is building 480 early childhood education centres, which are slated for completion by the end of 2025 (Zambia National Education Coalition, 2024). Other efforts to enhance the learning environment include the construction of more hostels at public universities, the procurement of desks for school classrooms, and a fivefold increase in funding for the school feeding programme in 2025 (Zambia Daily Mail, 2024; Zambia National Education Coalition, 2024).

Despite progress, Zambia's education sector still faces significant challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, limited resources, and poor teacher training. To address these challenges, the government has committed to increasing education funding, focusing on reducing disparities in education outcomes between rural and urban areas (Ministry of Education, 2024a).

The latest Afrobarometer survey findings indicate that an overwhelming majority of Zambians applaud the government's performance on education. Among respondents with pupils in their family, eight in 10 say a child in their family has benefited from the free education policy.

Large majorities say that the free education policy should continue to apply from pre-school to secondary levels and cover all citizens, not only those who cannot afford school fees.

More than half of citizens prefer to have free primary and secondary education, even if the quality is low, than to make parents pay school fees in hopes of raising education standards.

Edward Chibwili Edward Chibwili is the national investigator for Zambia.

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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