IT is a well-known fact that education is essential for the personal, social and economic development of the nation.
Education is also important to live with happiness and prosperity as it endows minds that will be able to conceive good thoughts and ideas.
They say that while life gives various survival challenges for humans, education guides human to fight the failure and get success in life.
It is undeniable that education is only one thing that can remove corruption, unemployment, and environmental problems.
Education is not about acquiring a certificate, a diploma or a degree but it is about how you can live with your own feet, knowing too that education is the most potent armament which you can use to change the world as it builds people into virtuous citizens.
Therefore the realization by traditional leaders in Katete District, in Eastern Province, to encourage children to take education seriously is a stunning idea which must be supported by all benevolent Zambians.
Headman Kalinde (Adrian Banda), of Chieftainess Kawaza in Katete, is right to say that children should not be allowed to quit school just to go and herd cattle but should instead be assisted to pursue education.
Headman Kalinde said the traditional leaders have learnt good lessons about the importance of sending children to school in order to reduce the levels of illiteracy in villages.
It is because of this realization that Chieftainess Kawaza last week sent 41 of her headmen and indunas to neighbouring Chief Saili’s chiefdom, in Chipata district, to learn the importance of keeping children in school.
This is because in Chief Saili’s Chiefdom there are no children herding cattle as they all have been sent to schools.
He is right when he says, once educated, the chances of them being empowered by government, through employment, are high.
“As traditional leaders, we were so privileged to visit chief Saili’s chiefdom to learn how to stop taking our children to herd cattle but instead allow the older people in the village instead do that,” said Headman Kalinde.
“We saw that in chief Saili’s chiefdom children go to school and they only help looking after cattle during school holidays. We learnt that education is key for them to have a bright future and illiteracy levels will stop in the villages,” he said.
To immediately prove a valid point about education, Headman Kalinde also says his team learnt that, they can use maize leaves to feed cows after harvesting their maize fields and that it is equally important not to burn the same.
He further said that the people in Chief Saili’s area have, through education, learnt the importance of avoiding cutting tree because the practice affects climate change.
We think the pledge by Headman Kalinde that the traditional leaders will do everything possible to bring change in their chiefdom, based on what they had learned, is what other chiefdoms, not only in Eastern Province but the rest of Zambia should emulate.
This is important because education makes the national development progression fast as it develops good political ideologies.
We can also not deny that the standard of living of citizens is largely dependent on the level of education they are able to acquire.
