01 Feb 2016

Concerned with the declining education performance, government has adopted the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) to address the quality of existing Vocational education and Training programmes as a way of equipping the youth with appropriate skills.

Delivering the 2016 budget speech on Monday, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Mr Kenneth Matambo said human capital development remains a high priority for government as education and training are critical for capital building, citizen economic empowerment as well as social and economic development.

Mr Matambo said for that reason, substantial resources would continue to be channelled towards education and training with emphasis on ensuring that the skills and qualifications offered and required are more responsive to the needs of the labour market.

He said in recognition of the importance of education to achieve inclusive growth, government has over the years, invested substantial resources in the development of skills for the country workforce.  

The minister highlighted that besides empowering the individual to make informed choices in life, education could contribute to sustainable economic growth through improved productivity of the workforce, as well as the ability to adopt technology. 

Furthermore, he stated that ETSSP would also increase equitable access to education by intensifying the use of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) in learning.

He stated that under the ETSSP, an early childhood Policy Framework would be developed in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund to guide the implementation of Early Childhood Care and development in the next five years. 

He also said the acceleration of backlog eradication of classrooms and other education facilities under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) would achieve some of the targets. Regarding health matters, Mr Matambo said, “A healthy nation is a productive nation” hence government is committed to investing in health, not only to raise the standard of living in the country, but also to improve the productivity of the workforce.

“Government will continue to pursue avenues to improve the standard of health by continuously reviewing the policies and processes of delivering health in the country.  

One such avenue will be the implementation of the Medicines and Related Products Supply Chain Strategy to ensure regular availability and rational use of essential medicines and provide quality assurance and security of health commodities throughout the supply chain, he said. Ends