Financing for equity in primary and secondary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to schools
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
In Zambia, the Ministry of Education is responsible for formulating policy and providing education across the country. Its structure consists of four levels: headquarters, ten provincial education offices, 116 district education offices—which oversee education administration within their regions—and individual schools. Under the 2011 Education Act, the Ministry of Education, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, determines policy on education sector funding and may allocate resources directly to school boards or other decentralised units.
Government expenditure on general education is primarily divided into three categories: staff and teacher salaries, school grants to cover educational materials and operational costs for free primary and secondary education, and school infrastructure. School grants are distributed at the start of each quarter and, since 2022, have been transferred directly to schools. Infrastructure funding flows from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Education and then to secondary schools’ accounts, while salaries are paid directly from the Ministry of Finance to individual accounts.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Since 2006, the Ministry of Education has allocated operational grants to districts using a formula based on student numbers and district poverty levels. The formula is designed to promote equity by giving greater weight to the most disadvantaged districts.
Previously, school grants were disbursed by the central government through decentralised units, such as District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) offices, to primary schools. Allocation considered factors such as school location, gender ratio, and enrolment size. In January 2022, a centralised system of direct grant disbursement to schools was introduced to reduce delays and prevent misdirection of funds (see section 2).
2. Education resources to schools
School Grants
School grants have been provided to schools in Zambia since 2006. At the primary level, grants were distributed according to a formula that took into account school location, gender ratio, and enrolment size. Secondary school grants, however, were not formula-based and were instead allocated evenly across provinces. Provinces were responsible for distributing funds to schools within their areas, with discretion over how to weigh the different factors when determining individual school allocations.
In January 2022, the government introduced the Free Education Policy, abolishing all formal and informal fees—including tuition, grade 12 examination fees, and Parent Teacher Association 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 receiving quarterly funding from the Treasury.
Sanitary Towels to Schools
Since 2019, the Zambian parliament has unanimously adopted a motion to provide free sanitary pads in rural schools, aiming to promote equity in girls’ access to education. The Ministry of Education is responsible for funding the distribution of reusable sanitary towels to these schools.
Grants to Schools with Special Education Needs
Schools serving students with special education needs and disabilities receive an annual grant, which is used in part to purchase teaching and learning materials. The 2011 Education Act defines a learner with “special education needs” as one who has a physical, hearing, speech, visual, or mental impairment; is significantly different from other learners mentally; has social, emotional, or behavioural disorders as certified by a medical practitioner or prescribed officer; or is gifted and talented.
3. Education resources to students and families
The Ministry of General Education has been providing bursaries for orphans and vulnerable children at the secondary education level, with the support of partners. However, exact government funding and the number of beneficiaries for these programmes prior to 2015 are not available. In 2023, the bursary scheme was distributed annually to secondary schools with eligible children to cover examination and tuition fees for orphans, girls, and disadvantaged students, thereby enhancing their access to secondary education. In 2022, approximately 3% of primary and secondary school students received government bursaries, while an estimated 15% of school-age children were orphans or otherwise vulnerable.
Keeping Girls in School Programme
The Keeping Girls in School programme is a government initiative, implemented by the Ministry of Education, providing bursaries to vulnerable secondary school girls aged 14 to 21 living in Social Cash Transfer households across 49 districts in Zambia’s ten provinces. Bursaries are awarded for up to five years, covering the full duration of secondary education, and include boarding school fees paid directly to schools, alongside an additional education grant to help families purchase other school requirements. The programme aims to improve access, participation, retention, and progression of adolescent girls in secondary education, addressing challenges such as long distances to school, early marriage, menstrual hygiene, and unwanted pregnancies. It forms part of the Girls Education and Women’s Empowerment (GEWEL) project, a government initiative supported by the World Bank since 2016, coordinated by the Gender Division under the Office of the President, with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services as implementing ministries.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Public Welfare Assistance Scheme
The Public Welfare Assistance Scheme, administered by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, is Zambia’s oldest social welfare programme, operating since 2000. It targets the 10 per cent most vulnerable and poor households, as well as elderly people, persons with disabilities, orphans and neglected children, chronically ill individuals, and survivors of natural disasters. The programme provides a range of assistance, including food, clothing, health and education services such as scholarships for secondary school children, and shelter.
Secondary Boarding School Bursaries
In 2022, the government introduced a bursary scheme to support vulnerable secondary school students by covering boarding fees for orphans and other disadvantaged learners, facilitating access to secondary boarding schools and skills development. Eligibility is determined locally through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), a public fund managed by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development that finances community projects aimed at poverty reduction. Learners qualify for the bursary if they are of school-going age, have completed grade 8 or are enrolled in grades 9 to 12, reside in the constituency where the fund is located, and meet criteria such as being orphaned, having a disability, belonging to a poor or vulnerable household, being out-of-school, or being a school dropout unable to pay fees. Priority is given to children with special needs and those admitted to STEM or technical secondary schools. By 2023, this initiative was recognised as the largest child protection spending programme in the country.
Social Cash Transfer Programme
The Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCT), operating since 2003 and now expanded to all 116 districts, is implemented by the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services. The programme provides support to the most vulnerable households, helping them meet basic needs such as health, education, food, and shelter. One of its objectives is to increase enrolment and attendance in primary school, with SCT recipient households recording a 10 per cent rise in the number of children attending primary school. Eligibility for the programme requires households to meet several criteria, including residency, having an elderly member, a person with a severe disability, a chronically ill individual on palliative care, being child-headed, or being headed by a female with at least three children, in addition to meeting defined welfare criteria.
5. School meal programmes
Home-Grown School Meals
The Home-Grown School Meals (HGSM) programme is implemented in 70 targeted districts (out of 116) across all of the 10 provinces, providing locally sourced meals to students in public and community pre-primary and primary schools. Districts are selected based on three educational indicators—drop-out rate, net enrolment ratio, and completion rate—and three economic indicators—extreme poverty rate, access to arable land, and proportion of total farmer households.
The Ministry of General Education oversees the programme through the Directorate of School Health and Nutrition, having established School Health and Nutrition Committees at provincial, district, and school levels. The Ministry assumed ownership of the programme in 2011, with other government ministries providing technical assistance and various partners involved in one or more aspects, including relevant UN agencies, development partners, and NGOs. The World Food Programme provides both technical and financial support. Funds are disbursed to District Education Boards to procure food for schools, while menus adhere to national minimum standards to ensure nutritional value.
The objectives of the programme are to improve enrolment, attendance, retention, and progression of learners; increase awareness, production, and consumption of nutritious, diverse, and safe food among learners; promote market participation of smallholder farmers with quality and diversified food products in the HGSM programme; and strengthen implementation and sustainability of the programme. It is defined as equity- and gender-focused, with the specific needs of children from different regions and backgrounds taken into account.
