The impact of rapid population growth and economic decline on the quality of education: the case of Zambia

Abstract

Precisely because Zambians were so educationally disadvantaged during the colonial period, the provision of schooling was given high priority by the post‐independence government. Education was seen as a right, as one of the fruits of independence, as well as a means by which the skills necessary to promote development could be imparted. While enormous strides were made, enormous difficulties were also encountered. As Musambachime notes, high rates of population growth necessarily put pressure on educational budgets. But while Zambia shares this problem with many other developing countries, its difficulties have been exacerbated by the particularly extreme economic crisis the country has suffered. The consequence has been a worrying decline in the quality of education provided and in the proportion of the student population served.