World Bank to Fund 440 Early Childhood Education Centres

440 Early Childhood Education Centres (ECE) are set to be built nationwide across 45 selected Districts.

These centres will include 110 Early Childhood Education facilities, each accompanied by three satellite centres.

The initiative will cost K977 million, funded through a grant from the World Bank under the Global Partnership for Education.

The project, administered under the Zambia Enhancing Early Learning (ZEEL) Project by the Ministry of Education, has already initiated construction on 52 schools in phase one.

The Ministry of Education’s Director of Planning and Information, Linda Siwale, emphasised the importance of education in alleviating poverty, promoting equality, and fostering a stable society.

Siwale made these remarks during the launch of phase two's site validation, which will oversee the construction of the remaining 58 hubs and their satellite centres.

Once completed, over 110,000 children between the ages of 3 and 6 will benefit from the project.

Veronica Grigera, World Bank Senior Education Specialist and ZEEL Team Leader, said it is their mission to ensure children have access to quality education.

The World Bank intends to restructure the grant to accelerate the project in alignment with the country's current economic conditions.