VVOB has been supporting education in Zambia since 1986.

 

In Zambia, learning outcomes in primary education are low, especially in reading and mathematics. Learners’ underperformance is partly due to a lack of understanding among teachers of how children develop literacy and numeracy skills and how to diversify instruction based on children's learning needs. Poor school performance is also due to a lack of school readiness. To better prepare young learners for success in primary school, Zambia recently introduced an early childhood education (ECE) curriculum. However, as many teachers are not sufficiently trained in play-based early childhood pedagogies, the quality of ECE provided is not sufficient.

Current focus:

  • Early childhood education
  • Primary education

Our key areas of work include:

  • Initial teacher education – Embedding play-based learning and the use of the Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) in initial teacher education for ECE and primary school teachers, as well as during student teachers’ teaching practice.
  • Continuous professional development of teachers – Strengthening in-service teacher training structures to improve continuous professional development of ECE and primary school teachers on play-based pedagogies, the use of ELDS, emergent literacy education and ‘teaching at the right level’ methodologies.
  • School leadership development – Building the capacity of school leaders to establish play-based,  gender-responsive early learning environments.