Learning Infrastructure and Delivery of Education: A Case of Zambia’s Private Teachers’ Training Colleges

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue IX, September 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Learning Infrastructure and Delivery of Education: A Case of Zambia’s Private Teachers’ Training Colleges

Lewis Bwalya Chilufya, Rosemary Muma Mulenga, Allen Ngoma
Religious Studies Education, Kwame Nkrumah University

Abstract: This article is based on a study that investigated the impact of infrastructure on the delivery of quality education in teachers training colleges in Zambia, particularly Lusaka district. The study had been guided by three objectives: (i) to investigate the state of infrastructure in selected private teacher training colleges in Lusaka, (ii) to identify the sources of funding for infrastructure development in selected private colleges in Lusaka, and (iii) to assess the extent to which the infrastructure of private teaching colleges influences quality academic environment. Largely, the study sought to ascertain whether the state of infrastructure and the learning environment in private teacher training colleges is supporting the provision of quality education. The study design which was used was Convergent Parallel Design (CPD) which led to collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. On the basis of the collected data, reviewed literature, and their analysis, this article has established that the state of private teachers training Colleges in Lusaka is not good, which entails that quality service delivery has been compromised. It thus recommended that Government should introduce a policy where private Colleges pay less tax on imported materials that are meant to improve on the learning infrastructure and standards in the country.

Keywords: Infrastructure, Private, Teacher Training Colleges, Funding, Quality Education

I. INTRODUCTION

The education sector in Zambia has recorded phenomenal growth since its liberalization in 1992 (Ministry of Education, 2000). The liberalization of the economy and other sectors, such as education, was in line with the new political, economic and social dispensation ushered in with the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1991. Notwithstanding, one of the major changes that came out of liberalization in the educational sector included the establishment of private primary and secondary schools as well as private teacher training colleges and universities. As of 2018, Zambia already had a total of one hundred and six private colleges and universities affiliated to the Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ, 2018), and that number has since grown exponentially. Their numbers are far much more than the public universities and colleges that offer training for teachers in the country.
This article focuses on the effects of private teacher training colleges’ infrastructure development on the quality of education. In this respect, it brings under spotlight the

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