Teacher Training Program @ ZIGS

ZIGS is committed to providing high quality education across Livingstone and not just to the children with our school community. Our outreach programmes are an integral part of our vision. As part of this mission we have begun a teacher training program for aspiring pre-school teachers within Livingstone. Our aim is to train teachers to the highest standard in order that they can subsequently make a real difference in the lives of the children in our wider community. We currently have four teachers on our teacher training program. Three of these have come from a local community school in one of the poorer compounds in the town. They have been teaching without qualifications up until now but thanks to ZIGS and the sponsorship of a Swedish NGO they will return to their schools as fully qualified pre-school teachers. One of the joys of the program is that our trainee teachers often come from impoverished backgrounds themselves and by qualifying as a pre-school teacher they and their families are hugely empowered. The teacher training programme is making a real difference in people’s lives. 

ZIGS is one of very few schools in Zambia offering teacher training courses. We do so because we believe that in house training is the best way to learn how to be a teacher. Our trainees spend the day working in the classroom alongside our teachers and have twilight lectures twice a week with our Deputy Head, Miss Josephine Bwalya. Miss Bwalya has a background in teacher training having worked at Mufulira College of Education and is also the chair of the curriculum committee at the Early Childhood Council of Zambia.

We wish to roll out our teacher training courses in order to make an even greater difference in our community and thus seek sponsors to make this program affordable. Our fees are modest by northern hemisphere standards but are not easily affordable to the average Zambian. For £100 ($150) per term we can fund the training of one teacher who will then go into the community fully qualified with a certificate or diploma in education. 

With your support we can continue to support the children of Livingstone by ensuring that they are taught by well qualified teachers. Please commit to sponsor a teacher trainee for a term or a year. By doing so you will be empowering someone to be in a position to support their own family as well as ensuring that the children in the poorest communities are taught by the best available teachers!

Child Sponsorship Program II

Many children in Zambia are denied pre-school education because of poverty. This is a major problem because modern research shows how important it is to lay the foundations for learning at a young age. Children from comparatively wealthy families thus get a head start in their educational lives as they will start school even as young as 18 months. 

As a result ZIGS has introduced a child sponsorship program to try to break this cycle of poverty. For £200 ($250) per term you can support a child to be educated at ZIGS and thus be educated in an environment that is thoroughly conducive to learning. For a relatively small amount of money in northern hemisphere terms a child can be given the foundations for lifelong learning.

Child Sponsorship Programme

Part of our mission at ZIGS is to serve the poor and vulnerable in our wider community. In the light of this fact we are seeking to introduce a new scholarship scheme that will allow the brightest children from vulnerable families and impoverished communities to attend our school. Many children in Livingstone do not get the opportunity for Pre-School education and thus begin Primary School considerably disadvantaged and lacking the basic tools of learning. Those who do attend school are often "taught" in classes of 40 or more and the quality of learning is often poor.

Our scholarship programme will ensure that the more able pupils from poorer homes are given the same opportunities as some of their wealthier neighbours. In order to finance the scholarship programme we are appealing for your support. For £50 ($75) per month a child can attend ZIGS and learn at one of the best schools in Zambia. The £50 is inclusive of uniform, meals and educational tours and ensures that the child has the same opportunity to all of his/her classmates. In all we seek to recruit 30 pupils as part of our child sponsorship programme. The income generated from this strategy will go to providing for the individual child's education but will also allow ZIGS to invest further in our outreach programmes and strategies to improve education throughout Livingstone and beyond.

Give a little to save a soul

On Saturday 27th October ZIGS hosted an Independence Day party for 30 orphans from across Livingstone. The party was organised by Kimberley Musonda, the Director of the charity 'Give a little to safe a soul' and former Big Brother Africa contestant, the students from the Victoria Falls University Community Outreach Group and the staff of ZIGS. The day was full of laughter and joy and the children went home very happy! It was a privilege for all of us a ZIGS to be part of such an event that focused on supporting the most vulnerable children in our community!