Mr Banda said yesterday that when parents pay considerable sums of money they should be able to reap significant harvests of good character formation in their children.
Speaking when he officially opened Horizon Primary and High School in Lusaka's Kabulonga area, Mr Banda said for some schools, poor character among children was still a challenge.
Mr Banda said the Government would collaborate with organisations like Horizon Educational Trust in pursuit of quality education for all children regardless of their colour, creed, race and tribe.
He commended private educational institutions that had excelled in the provision and promotion of quality education.
The president said education played an important role in the upbringing of children as it not only provided a platform upon which to train their minds and bodies but also helped instill personal discipline and independent thinking.
Mr Banda said the government was continuously reviewing the national educational policy to make it more responsive towards the needs of the people.
"Stakeholders in education development are being consulted countrywide in this review process to ensure that the future of our children remains bright.
"To this effect, I wish to thank our Turkish partners and Horizon Educational Trust for this investment into our educational sector," he said.
Mr Banda said he had been to Turkey twice and was impressed with the country's standards of education and that is why he had requested Turkish partners to come to Zambia and work with the government in the pursuit of quality education.
He said education helped to fight poverty, ignorance and delinquency because such problems had impacted negatively on the children and society.
"Through education we can fight poverty and ignorance and we can bring about behavioural change in our children, which is critical in the fight against youth delinquency," he said.
Mr Banda said the success of any school was largely dependant on the school management and surrounding communities.
Turkish Ambassador to Zambia Ahmet Arda said Horizon Primary and High School was equipped with the state of the art equipment which would greatly contribute towards the learning process of the pupils.
Mr Arda said cultural exchange programmes were important and that they should be encouraged between the two countries.
He said Zambia was on track to in meeting Millennium Development Goal number two on the provision of education that is to ensure all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.
Serif Ali Tekalan from Turkey['s Fatih] University said Horizon Educational Trust was able to set up the school in Zambia because of the peaceful environment obtaining in the country.
Horizon Primary and High School Parents Teachers Association chairperson Leslie Mbula said the school would focus much on Mathematics, Science and Information Communication Technology.
Published on Times of Zambia, 24 May 2011, Tuesday
Further details excerpted from another article by The Post Online:
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"So I came here, I visited this school while it was under construction. Somebody told me where it was, he said ‘next to Chibelo School’,” said President Banda yesterday. “When I got up there I saw the flag, I saw the Turkish flag; I said nipamene pala, that’s the place.
So your Excellency Turkish Ambassador to Zambia Ahmed Adda it’s true that the flag of Turkey flew in this country primarily because of this school and that now we shall see it at the Embassy since you have now come.”
President Banda said he was happy that the Zambia-Turkey relations could start on such note.
He said the government attached importance to education.
“When I visited this school, privately, one evening there was just the manager, the gentleman who was building the school, and some workers said to me ‘we want this piece of land between Horizon and Kabulonga Basic schools next to us so that we can build a girls school, secondary school’,” President Banda said.
“I told them ‘even without consulting the Minister of Education Dora Siliya I know she will agree. I know the deputy will agree that this should also be given to this trust to build a girls secondary school’.
And indeed when they met with her she confirmed immediately. So we are waiting for this school so that our children, our girl children have also a decent school where they can learn.”
President Banda said he had been to Turkey twice and was very impressed with that country’s standard of education.
He said that was the reason why he requested Turkish partners to work with Zambia in the pursuit of quality education.
He said through education the country could fight poverty and ignorance as well as bringing about behavioural change, which was critical in the fight against youth delinquency.
President Banda commended private educational institutions that had excelled in the provision and promotion of quality education.
...
Excerpted from The Post Online, 24 May 2011, Tuesday
