Govt, CSOs clash over Education Act

Government says it is effectively implementing the 2013 Education Act, a claim which the Civil Society Education Coalition (Csec) has described as mere rhetoric.

According to Csec, the Education Act of 2013, which is meant to improve education standards in the country, is gathering dust as government has not started implementing it.

But Minister of Education, Science and Technology Bright Msaka, in a recent interview, claimed government is already implementing the Act, as evidenced by the devolution of powers in the running of schools.

He said the ministry is also looking into setting up an education advisory board to guide government in promoting educational standards as stipulated by the Act.

“We are implementing the Act. Already, you can see that we have entrusted power of running schools in local councils. On the issue of an advisory board, we recently held a meeting and that issue came up. So it is being looked into,” claimed Msaka.

However, Csec executive director Benedicto Kondowe said government is not doing much, citing the requirement to set up an education advisory board as an example.

“We are not interested in rhetoric. We need action. You can see that up to now we still don’t have an education advisory board. The board is very crucial when it comes promoting standards.

“Why should it take over three years to just set up a board? This is not on. Government concentrates on minor things and practically they are not being implemented,” he said.

Kondowe said the fact that powers of running primary schools are now under local councils does not have impact as the councils have not been given administrative powers to manage the schools.