Zambia’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany Her Excellency Winnie Natala Chibesakunda has called on African governments to strive and progress towards universal primary education which is a basic human right to which all children must have access.
Ambassador Chibesakunda said this when she delivered a speech during the celebration of Africa Women’s day which was recently hosted by the embassy of the Republic of Angola in Germany.
The African Women’s Day is commemorated on 31st July and this years celebration was under the theme “Investing in Education: Securing the future of women and girls.”
She said African governments should also provide necessary means for rural girls to go to school since they are the group most likely to be deprived of this right on account of their entrenched poverty and marginalized social status.
Ambassador Chibesakunda pointed out that education was an equalizer that opens many opportunities and is a bedrock of any progressive society adding that it was a powerful tool that has the potential to break the chains of poverty and foster economic growth.
She however said this education should look at skills building which would equip women and girls with the tools they need to excel as skilled women and girls could meet the needs of the fast-changing job market not only in Africa but the world over.
Ambassador Chibesakunda stressed that girls who complete primary and secondary education tend to be awake to health implications resulting from unprotected sex and further have manageable families and earn significantly higher wages.
She said President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration scrapped school fees and is providing free education from grade 1 to grade 12 and has employed over 30,000 teachers in the past two years to improve the teacher pupil ratio.
She further echoed President Hichilema’s statement that “investing in women is a moral obligation as well as a human rights issue.”
She called on governments in Africa to consider investing heavily in building up local capacity especially in the teaching sector through training of more teachers and improving infrastructure as this will help in improving the quality of education.