By Patricia Banda
The Zambia Education Publishing House –ZEPH- says textbooks and teachers’ guides for Form One and Form Two learners under the new competency-based curriculum are ready and will be distributed to schools before the end of February 2026.
ZEPH Managing Director AGNESS WILKINS says the books are currently awaiting approval from a team of technocrats meeting to assess the materials.
Dr. WILKINS told ZNBC News in an interview that, as a temporary measure, ZEPH has produced teaching modules to support teachers, with distribution set to begin this week.
She also disclosed that Form Three and Form Four textbooks, which are not yet in schools, have already been written and are ready for proofreading before being submitted to the Curriculum Development Centre for evaluation.
Dr. WILKINS said ZEPH has worked consistently since the Ministry of Education introduced the new curriculum in 2023 to ensure the production of textbooks for learners and teachers across various subjects.
She added that syllabuses and teaching modules for the new curriculum have already been distributed to all ten provinces.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Education Head of Communications KUNDA MANDO said more than three million kwacha has so far been spent on the production of educational materials.
Ms. MANDO said the Ministry continues to release funds, as further work remains under the new curriculum, from Early Childhood Education to Form Five.
She also expressed satisfaction with ZEPH’s decision to engage a team of experts, including lawyers, clergy, retired teachers and former Inspector General of Police STELLA LIBONGANI, who are contributing to learning materials for subjects such as Civic Education and Zambian Languages.
Ms. LIBONGANI said the new Civic Education curriculum includes content on issues such as child abuse, which will help learners understand where to seek assistance.
Meanwhile, SIMON KABANDA, Chairperson of Writers of Educational Materials, said the team is supporting the Government’s Free Education Policy by ensuring the competency-based curriculum reflects real-life situations.
