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| Schools | Age Groups | Subjects |
| Schools |
There are two types of primary school in Zambia: Public Schools and Private Schools. The Private schools are fee-paying schools.There is a maximum of thirty children in each class an 90% of the students go on to secondary school. The school buildings are in good condition. However, most Zambian families cannot afford Private Schools. |
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| It costs just 6 Euro for a child to attend a Public School in Zambia for a year. However many families struggle to raise even this much! Class numbers in these schools can be as high as fifty children. Only the teacher has a textbook. Less than 20% of the children in Public Schools go on to secondary school. |
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There are no Junior or Senior Infant Classes in Zambian schools. Children start school in 1st Class at the age of seven. If a family can afford it, a child will stay in school until 6th class. At the end of this year there is a very important test. Children must pass this test in order to finish primary school. If they fail, they must repeat 6th Class again. Can you imagine what this pressure is like? Not many children go on to Secondary School. It is very expensive. The Junior Secondary School is from 1st to 3rd year. The Senior Secondary School is 5th and 6th year. Very few progress on to University. Aren't we lucky to have free education here in Ireland! Children in Zambia love education and will often arrive at school two hours before classes start! However, many of them are forced to miss a lot of days at school because of sickness or else to help their parents at home or at work. |
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Subjects |
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Classes in Primary Schools start each morning at 7 a.m. There is a break at 10 a.m. and the children are allowed to play outside. In the Public Schools most children would not have a lunch to eat. School finishes at 12 p.m because this is the hottest time of the day. The children study a range of subjects. In the morning Maths and English are generally thought. Then after break Geography, Science, History or Religion are thought. Subjects such as Drama, Pe, SPHE and Art are not taught at all. There are over 70 native languages in Zambia and each school also teaches their own regional language. What differences are there compared to Irish Schools? |
Dear children in Ireland,
how are you? My name is Queen and I am 11 years old. I go to a private school called Faithwood. I love my school. The teachers are very good and we do lots of subjects. School starts at 7 o' clock in the morning. Before class begins we raise the Zambian flag and sing the national anthem. I have lots of friends in this school.
My family own a stall and we sell vegtables. Sometimes I have to skip school to help out at the stall or help my mother at home. I have three sisters and four brothers. We play different games in the evening after school.
I would like to go to secondary school and study to be a doctor. It would be great to save lives because there is a lot of suffering in this country because of hunger and the terrible disease AIDS.
I hope that you have learned about Zambia from my letter. Maybe some day you will visit Zambia!
God bless you,
Queen
