Zambia urged to build resilient education system as crises threaten learning

By Daily News Reporter

UNZA researchers say sustained investment, stronger implementation and cooperation across sectors are needed to protect learners from current and future disruptions. 

When schools are disrupted, the effects extend well beyond closed classrooms. Learners can lose access to lessons and essential services, teachers and education managers face added pressure, and inequalities can widen—especially for children already at risk of being left behind. 

Building resilience therefore requires more than responding once a crisis strikes, University of Zambia (UNZA) Acting Dean of the School of Education Robson Mambwe said. Education systems must be strengthened continuously so they can anticipate, prepare for and adapt to shocks while keeping learning accessible and inclusive. 

“Resilience should be understood as a continuous process of strengthening education systems through effective implementation, adaptive governance and sustained investment,” Mambwe said at a dissemination programme presenting findings from the Africa Regional Education System Resilience Observation Project (ARESRO) formative assessment in Zambia. He spoke on behalf of the school’s substantive dean, Dr. Liberty Mwamba. 

The findings point to a broad range of pressures on education in Zambia and across the region. These include climate-related hazards such as floods and droughts, disease outbreaks, economic pressures, population changes, technology gaps and challenges with infrastructure and learning conditions. Conflict and insecurity also affect neighbouring countries, making support for displaced and refugee learners a regional concern. 

In Zambia, researchers and participants highlighted overcrowded classrooms, inadequate infrastructure and teacher shortages alongside barriers to access, including long distances to school and early marriage. Public health emergencies can also interrupt teaching and the provision of essential services. Recent experience with COVID-19, as well as cholera outbreaks, has underscored the need to sustain learning during disruption—not simply restore it afterwards. 

The assessment’s Principal Investigator, Professor Beatrice Matafwali of the University of Zambia, said the study examined how well the country’s education system can withstand and recover from ongoing stresses and sudden shocks. 

Among the pressures identified were climate and environmental hazards, public-health emergencies, economic strain, demographic change, technology gaps and disruptions to infrastructure, learning conditions and essential services. Prof Matafwali also urged Zambia to consider the education needs of people displaced by conflict and insecurity in neighbouring countries, noting that the country hosts learners from communities affected by those crises. 

These pressures can restrict access to education, disrupt learning and weaken the resources available to keep schools operating. Limited access to technology, for example, can hinder both learning continuity and the development of learners’ skills. 

Matafwali said the study identified gaps in shared frameworks for defining and assessing education-system resilience, in evidence to guide planning, and in foresight about future risks. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how long learning could be interrupted, she said, raising questions about whether measures introduced at the time can be sustained or adapted if another crisis occurs. Cholera outbreaks also highlight the need for plans that protect learning while responding to public-health threats. 

Presenting regional findings, University of Zambia Co-Investigator Dr. Nelly Mwale said education-system resilience is understood in different ways across countries and is shaped by local conditions. Despite those differences, the review found a shared emphasis on maintaining learning during crises. Countries have pursued measures such as digital and blended learning, health and nutrition programmes, and efforts to strengthen preparedness and response. 

However, structural constraints—including infrastructure gaps, financing challenges and governance weaknesses—continue to affect how effectively resilience measures are put into practice. She said a whole-sector approach is needed, bringing together education and other ministries, communities, learners and other stakeholders. 

The Zambia assessment also found that the meaning of resilience is not always shared or clearly defined. Researchers identified gaps in frameworks for assessing resilience, evidence to guide planning and foresight into future risks. They said lessons from responses to COVID-19 should inform preparations for future emergencies, including how to maintain learning if schools or essential services are disrupted again. 

And meanwhile Professor Ecloss Munsaka, who presented findings from the formative assessment, said resilience was generally understood by participants as the ability of an education system to withstand shocks and adapt to change. But he cautioned that pressures can be both sudden and long-standing: a flood may strike abruptly, while overcrowding, inadequate staffing and weak infrastructure build over time. 

Young children—particularly those in early childhood education and Grade 1—and learners from low-income households were identified as especially vulnerable. Girls also face risks linked to poverty, long journeys to school and early marriage. School feeding and health services can help learners attend and remain in school, but the researchers said these programmes need reliable support. 

Participants also pointed to the importance of technology, teacher training, stronger infrastructure and effective support for learners returning to school. Policies such as the school re-entry policy need to translate into practical assistance, they said, so that girls who return are able to stay and complete their education. 

Looking ahead, the assessment identified climate change, continued overcrowding, limited funding, disease outbreaks, drug and substance abuse, teacher recruitment constraints and weak policy implementation among the challenges likely to persist or intensify. Changes in political leadership can also affect continuity if successful programmes are not carried forward. 

The researchers recommended expanding safe, inclusive and climate-responsive learning spaces; strengthening teacher recruitment and professional development; sustaining health and nutrition programmes; and improving support for vulnerable learners. They also called for stronger coordination across government departments and more reliable financing for preparedness and response. 

For Mambwe, the central test is whether the system can protect every learner when disruption occurs. Achieving that will require education to work alongside health, infrastructure, governance and finance—and to make resilience part of everyday planning, rather than an emergency measure brought in only after a crisis begins.