Education
Linda Open Community School is located in a very poor area of Lusaka. When we began working with the community over 14 years ago, it had 800 pupils, very few classrooms, the teachers were unpaid, there were no toilets, no electricity and no running water. As a result, the standard of education lagged well behind government schools and very few pupils sat examinations.
Today, with the support of VisionZambia, the school looks and feels a very different place. There are over 2000 pupils, new classrooms have been built, desks, equipment for the science laboratories and computers have been supplied and also text books. There are now 34 teachers. There are toilets, and standpipes that deliver clean water. Above all, pupils enter examinations at age 12 and age 14, with a rising pass rate. In the last 2 years, exam pass rates have risen from 57% to 97% at grade 7 and from 27% to 95% at grade 9.
A wall around the school grounds increases the security of the site and gives the school an increased importance within the community. The Head Teacher aims for the school to be seen not only as a place for orphans and vulnerable children but as a centre of educational excellence in its own right.
Gaining a grade 12 certificate is essential for securing a job or having the opportunity to go to college. Children who leave education at grade 9 have little prospect of employment and face a life of poverty and all the risks that entails in a country where there is no state provision.
In 2017 VisionZambia committed to building a secondary school classroom block for Linda. Early donations enabled us to build a new classroom block which was completed in 2018 and the first Grade 10 pupils arrived in January 2019. Now in September 2020 we have just completed that vision with an additional four classrooms housing another 250 pupils.
Three quarters of these children cannot afford the fees so we have started an education fund programme to help. Your support for this campaign is changing these children’s lives.
“God Bless VisionZambia”
A thank you message from Doreen Nzila, Headmistress Linda Community School.
A happy new year to you and staff at Visionzambia (UK). I take this opportunity to thank VisionZambia immensely for the many gifts given to the school community in year 2020. Your support accorded a textbook to that child who can’t afford, brought back out of school children back into school by paying school fees to vulnerable children, you provided a seat (desk, chair and a study table) to a child in class, removed the unemployed youth out of poverty by paying a volunteer teacher providing a service to the vulnerable in form of monthly allowances, by doing that you have supported many souls that look up to the teacher as a family person for support.
A community teachers dignity was restored as you accorded an opportunity for a teacher to sit comfortably as they prepare for their lessons, in a state of art staffroom best in the district, provided a senior secondary school and revived the hope of the vulnerable to complete senior secondary education which many could not have dreamt.
The classrooms are spacious and came at the right time when everyone is emphasising on physical distancing to avoid spread of COVID 19. You upgraded the headteachers office and supported my office. What an amazing team you are. God bless this organisation. Your generosity shall impact positively on many generations to come especially in this compound who a while ago saw no value in educating their young ones now are appreciating as literacy levels have greatly improved.
How can I thank you? your support has put Linda on the map the once forgotten has become the most praised, once hated has become the most loved. Just imagine having more than 500 applying for Grade 1 for 2021 so sad that I can only take a few due to lack of teachers.
God bless VisionZambia.
Doreen Nzila
Headmistress Linda Community School
How To Help VisionZambia’s Education Fund
Our Education Fund is committed to educating vulnerable children in the community of Linda at Linda Community School near Lusaka Zambia.
In Zambia all children have to pay school fees. Up to grade 7 this costs around £25 per year and by secondary school the cost rises to around £100 per year. Many of these vulnerable pupils are doing piece work earning the equivalent of 20-50 pence a day to find the money to pay for their own education and it can be extremely difficult for children to cover these costs, as so many of them have sick parents or no parents at all. For these children the chance to reach grade 12 is the difference between being able to go to college or further learning or little prospect at all.
How The Fund Works
Vulnerable pupils are identified by the staff at Linda School and their circumstances are assessed and verified by the staff and head teacher. Vision Zambia trustees are made aware of the pupils in need and funds are allocated where possible accordingly. These pupils are encouraged and monitored by the teachers and regularly assessed by the head teacher and our trustees. The fund supports these children as part of the support for the running of the school, teachers and learning materials. Our donors can follow the progress of the pupils, the school, and the fund in general on our website and will receive an annual newsletter from the trustees including teachers’ reports, pupil stories and goals moving forward.
In 2020 the VisionZambia Education Fund paid school fees for 43 pupils who otherwise would be unable to continue their education, more is needed!
How You Can Help
There are various ways of giving to VisionZambia, click here to visit our shop to find out how.
