Zambia is located in southern Africa and has a population of about 16 million people.

 

School-age Population by Education Level1

2,125,074

 

1,467,633

Secondary

 

Tertiary

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Secondary Education
for the school year ending 20131

n/a

 

n/a

Female

 

Male

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Tertiary Education
for the school year ending 20121

3.5%

 

4.8%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Percentage of female teachers in 1

n/a

 

n/a

Secondary

 

Tertiary

 

 

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in March 2020

 

Literacy rate (2007)1

51.8%

 

72.0%

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Female

 

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Male

 

 

Economic Activity (2010)1

61%

 

81%

Adult (15+) economic activity
Female

 

Adult (15+) economic activity
Male

 

 

Political Decision Making (2014)1

12%

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

 

 

Life expectancy (2012)1

58

 

55

Female

 

Male

 

 

1. COL gender country profile April 2015 

 

0.6 89.2
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
0.25 56.6
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
8.1 14.3
Households with a computer (%)1 Individuals using the internet (%)1

 

 

1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Eye Country profile, retrieved in March 2020

 

Highlights

The Commonwealth of Learning’s (COL) work in Zambia is primarily in the areas of open/innovative schooling and technical and vocational skills development.

Open/Innovative Schooling

Open/innovative schooling is a supplementary or complementary model of schooling which uses a range of flexible approaches, based on open and distance learning, to provide structured teaching and learning opportunities. It focuses on training teachers in eLearning, using open educational resources (OER), improving the management of open schools and supporting the use of appropriate technologies in teaching and learning. COL is partnering with Zambia’s Ministry of General Education to train teachers in the development of eLearning content and OER in several school subjects and to expand open schooling in the country. COL’s support in Zambia will have a special focus on out-of-school youth, however, it is anticipated that the project will also impact mainstream schools, improving throughput and reducing dropout rates. Learn more about the Open/Innovative Schooling initiative.

Technical and Vocational Skills Development

The Technical and Vocational Skills Development (TVSD) initiative supports partners to harness technology so as to increase access to improved quality skills training. A key aspect of the programme is the capacity building of partner organisations in course design and materials development. A comprehensive baseline study of open and distance flexible learning in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) was prepared in 2015. Twenty institutions from Zambia are members of COL’s INVEST Africa initiative, which is committed to increasing access to high quality, flexible and blended skills training in support of sustainable livelihoods. With COL support, stakeholders in Zambia recently developed draft national TVET open and distance learning policy guidelines and guidelines for flexible TVET course development. Learn more about the Technical and Vocational Skills Development initiative.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector.

COL's partners in Zambia include: 

  • The Copperbelt University
  • Ministry of General Education 
  • Ministry of Higher Education
  • Technical and Vocational Teachers College
  • University of Zambia
  • Zambia Agricultural Research Institute