The Ministry of Education has handed over 10 hardtop Toyota Landcruiser Motor Vehicles worth USD1,023,668.40 to all the 10 provinces.
The Motor vehicles are meant for monitoring and supervising Ministry of Education programmes in the provinces.
Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary Administration, Ms. Noriana Muneku handed over the motor vehicles to the Provincial Education offices (PEOS) in Lusaka.
The Motor vehicles are particularly meant for effective implementation of projects under the Zambia Education Programme Coordinating Unit (ZEPCU).
ZEPCU coordinates the activities of the Zambia Education Enhancement project (ZEEP) and Zambia Enhancing Early Learning (ZEEL).
Ms. Muneku said the handover, underscores the commitment by the government to ensure a smooth and successful implementation of the Education For All Policy.
“The Ministry of Education is constructing 440 Early Childhood Education (ECE) infrastructure for children 3-6 years old in 45 selected districts across the country, under ZEEL. the ministry is further constructing 120 secondary schools in the ten provinces. reliable transport is therefore critical for these project to be executed successfully. Schools being constructed under the ZEEL and ZEEP are in hard to reach places and requires reliable transport.” the Permanent Secretary said.
She added that 62 motor cycles have also been acquired by the ZEEP project, and another 45 by the ZEEL project for easing movement of staff at district level to ensure that districts are proactive and prompt enough in attending to project needs and smooth operations of the Ministry in general.
Ms. Muneku further cautioned the project managers, PEOs and District Education Board Secretaries (DEBS) to ensure that the motor vehicles are used for the intended purpose of supervising and monitoring project works.
“At the moment, almost all planned constructions under both projects have delayed because of the challenge of transport for monitoring and supervision of these projects by the Provinces. With these motor vehicles, I will not tolerate any excuse for poor supervision of projects, programmes and activities. “Ms. Muneku said.
And speaking on behalf of the PEOs, Lupula Province PEO, Ms. Grace Sinkolongo, said the motor vehicles will be used for the intended purposes.
She pointed out that it has been a challenge to monitor the projects because of limited transport.
Ms. Sinkolongo assured the Permanent Secretary that the motor vehicles will be used in arrogance with the given guidelines.
Government through the Ministry of Education is implementing various education programmes aimed at improving equitable access to quality education.
The World Bank has been supporting the Ministry in implementing the Zambia Education Enhancement Project (ZEEP).
In order to deepen the human capital impact, the Project has been re-aligned to implement two over-arching Projects namely: The Zambia Enhancing Early Learning (ZEEL) and Zambia Education Enhancement Project (ZEEP) which is being coordinated by the Zambia Education Programme Coordinating Unit (ZEPCU). @meducommunications
