The Headmaster for Mukwela Basic School, Mr Mungala said the school assessed the pupils and
placed them in appropriate grades.
“We assessed the knowledge level and tried to bridge the gap between what they know and what they need to know at their age. Despite having missed out on school, most of the pupils are slowly picking up. However, some of them are bullies but it’s our duty as the school to work with the parents and help build these children” said the Headmaster.
The headmaster explained that the major reason which had seen a lot of pupils dropping out of school was the lack of financial resources. “The pupils are expected to pay K70 project fees for the whole year but most parents cannot afford. As a school, we have come up with a plan that allows parents to pay fees in form of bringing pit sand, river sand or moulding bricks for the school,” Mr Mungala explained.
Mr Mungala said the SPRIZ project had helped in changing attitudes as most families did not consider education as valuable. “Some parents did not understand what child labour is all about but now they understand the clear distinction between child work and child labour,” Mr Mungala added.
Kalomo District Education Standards Officer, Shirley Mbozi urged SPRIZ to continue with their programmes, stating that child labour was a social issue and there was need to keep sensitising the communities on the importance of keeping children in school.
The Zambian Government signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, and ratified the ILO Convention number 138 in 1976 and ILO Convention 182 in 2002.
The Employment of Young Person’s and Children (EYPC) Act which regulates employment of young persons and children was amended in 2004 to bring it in line with these international legal standards. However, despite these important commitments the country has made, challenges posed by child labour still remain rife in Zambia.
Clement Mwale with his father and brother
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