U.S. Government Supports Newspaper in Education Program

LUSAKA – With support from the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM) launched the Newspaper in Education (NIE) program today. The NIE program provides inexpensive, relevant teaching materials and ready-to-use lesson plans to Zambian schools.

USAID, with funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), initiated the NIE program in Zambia. Zambia’s Gender and Development Division, with support from UNDP, will fund the monthly instructional newspaper supplement, published at a discount by The Daily Mail. The supplement will teach students in Zambia’s public schools about gender issues and other development topics.

USAID funding to the NIE Program also supports teachers with curriculum guides and training to facilitate the use of the newspaper supplement in the classroom. So far, USAID has trained 75 teachers from Eastern, Copperbelt, Central and Lusaka Provinces. USAID will establish a Learning Resource Center at ZAMCOM. The Learning Resource Center will have equipment to design the layout of the instructional supplement before going to print at The Daily Mail.

The NIE supplement not only furnishes instructional content, but also provides high-quality reading material to Zambian school children. Speaking at the launch, USAID Education Team Leader Wick Powers said, “The USAID-supported Newspapers in Education program will encourage more of Zambia’s children to read. Reading is the single most critical foundational skill in early education and is the basis for future learning. USAID is committed to finding innovative solutions that improve the lives of Zambian children.”

The Ministry of Education and ZAMCOM will produce the supplement content, gearing it towards the public school curriculum with an emphasis on gender issues. The content will be presented in a way that is interesting for young people and will contain activities that teachers can give as assignments.

Standardized testing plays a vital role in Zambia’s public education system. Students must pass national standardized examinations to finish basic education and again, to qualify for secondary school. Because the NIE content is produced by the Ministry of Education to align with Zambia’s public school curriculum, it can help students prepare for these examinations.