Financing for equity in pre-primary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
The official entrance age to pre-primary education is 3 years old. In 2024, the net enrolment rate for pre-primary (both sexes) was 23%.
Governance
The Ministry of Education (Directorate of Early Childhood Education) is responsible for supervising and financing pre-primary education for children aged 3 to 6 (with primary education starting at the age of 7). Other Ministries (such as the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Child Development) are responsible for child care.
In 2025, only 2.5% of the education budget was allocated to pre-primary education.
Tuition-free status
Pre-primary or early childhood education is considered part of ‘basic education’ and is provided free of charge in public, aided and community educational institutions as part of the government’s Education for All Policy.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Pre-primary and primary school grants are distributed directly to schools since 2022 and salaries are paid directly from the Ministry of Finance to individual accounts.
2. Education resources to institutions
Pre-Primary Education Grants
In January 2022, the government introduced the Free Education Policy, abolishing all formal and informal fees across pre-primary, primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary levels. These fees were replaced by compensatory increases in school grants. Since the policy’s implementation, the central government has disbursed grants directly to schools, with all public schools (including at the pre-primary level) receiving quarterly funding from the Treasury. Grants at the pre-primary and primary level are distributed based on a formula that takes into account school location, gender ratio, and enrolment size.
Zambia Enhancing Early Learning Project
The Zambia Enhancing Early Learning (ZEEL) Project, financed through a grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Fund and implemented by the Ministry of Education, is considered the first large-scale investment in early childhood education for children aged 3-6 in Zambia. It is implemented across 45 disadvantaged and underserved districts, to build nationwide capacity for planning, deliver, and monitoring the quality of early childhood education.
3. Education resources to students and families
Bursary and subsidy programmes by the Ministry of Education are focused on the secondary and tertiary level, with no subsidies to students at the pre-primary education level.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Programmes such as the Public Welfare Assistance Scheme, Secondary School Bursaries and Social Cash Transfer Programme target children at the primary or secondary levels. There is no social policy programme with an education component targeting pre-primary-aged children.
