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Zambia's education system is in crisis. Teachers are drastically underpaid, educational materials are lacking, and classrooms are overcrowded. Many schools depend on community support as government funding is so unreliable. While increasing funding is crucial, secondary education can be improved in other ways as well. According to a new book published by the Commonwealth Secretariat, in the UK, classroom outcomes for the teaching and learning of English can be enhanced independently of funding. Increased budgets would still have the biggest single positive impact on educational outcomes, but the author challenges the widespread assumption that only money can improve Zambian education. The book charts the history of education in Zambia from the colonial period onwards, leading up to the current educational crisis in Zambia and its links with poverty. The author goes on to consider the literature on effective English teaching in secondary schools, drawing on countries with fewer economic constraints than Zambia. Key findings from the perspectives of pupils and teachers in Zambia include: • Financial constraints limit the effectiveness of teaching and learning in Zambian secondary schools. • Important modern teaching methods such as drama, role-play, quizzes and games are not valued or used frequently in Zambia. • Group discussions, reading aloud, individual reading and writing and feedback on written work are used frequently, being more valued by Zambian teachers and students. • Teacher shortages and absences, lack of preparation, overcrowded classes and lack of reading materials limit the frequency and effectiveness of such teaching methods. • Government policy to over-recruit pupils and integrate visually- or hearing-impaired students into mainstream schools, without any additional support, are seen to disadvantage everyone and reduce teaching effectiveness. The author suggests a number of reforms to make a significant difference even in the context of severe material and financial constraints. She proposes a democratic model that would make better use of pupils’ intelligence, energy and ambition, drawing upon teachers’ existing strengths. With an increase to the education budget of just ten percent, the following could be achieved: • realistic workloads for teachers (who should not be expected to carry out non-teaching tasks or teach two lessons at the same time) • democratic collaboration replacing competitiveness and authoritarianism as a basis for a demanding education • encouraging students to be responsible for planning, engaging in and evaluating their own learning • efficient and sensitive mechanisms for teacher accountability, created with teacher participation • paid employment for top students (monitoring younger students, distributing exercises when teachers are absent) • a strict code of hardworking non-disruptive behaviour, democratically designed with student participation.

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