Teacher Resource Centres in Zambia serve primarily to develop the professional skills of teachers through access to teaching and learning materials, but also through the provision of professional development courses for teachers. However, due to financial constraints, most Teacher Resource Centres in the country are ill equipped to adequately perform their key functions.
This is why an important component of the ECSITE project, funded by the European Union in conjunction with the Belgian Development Cooperation, and implemented by VVOB, Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, (MESVTEE) and Zambia Open Community School (ZOCS) is the procurement of equipment and resources for 10 Teacher Resource Centres. The project has in fact procured equipment and materials worth 50,000 Euro, for the Provincial Resource Centres of Ndola, Kitwe, Serenje and Kabwe, and the District Resource Centres of Mumbwa, Mufulira, Ndola, Kitwe Serenje, and Chibombo.
The equipment includes Laptops, Photocopiers, LCD Projectors, LCD Screens, DVD players, 32 Inch Flat screen TVs, Drawer Steel cabinets, Laminators, Spiral binders, and textbooks. The textbooks include latest titles from UNZA such as Teachers As agents of Pupil Indiscipline and Principles and Practice of Education by JS Farrant. The materials were procured based on the individual needs of the targeted Teacher Resource Centers within a set budget.
On the 13th of November 2013, after the lengthy procurement process was finalized, ECSITE officially handed over the equipment to the MESVTEE. The small handover ceremony was held at the Curriculum Development Centre building in Lusaka, in the presence of the Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr Vincent Chiyongo, the Acting Director of Teacher Education Specialized Services, Mr Benson Banda, and the European Union Head of Social Sectors and Governance section, Mr Peter Herzig.
The Provincial Education Officer from Central Province, Mrs Hamatumbika came to receive the equipment on behalf of all the receiving Teacher Resource Centres and presented a vote of thanks to the ECSITE project team and the funders of the initiative, European Union and Belgian Development Cooperation.