ZAMBIA 2013 CHILD SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM RESULTS Overview: Save the Children in Zambia officially underwent its first full year of Sponsorship programming in 2013. Sponsorship resources are being used to implement programs in the Lufwanyama District. Lufwanyama is the largest district in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia and remains the least developed in terms of infrastructure, social amenities and road networks. In 2013, Zambia began to scale up its two Sponsorship-funded programs: Early Childhood Care and Development and Basic Education. The country office continues to focus on operational excellence and strong community mobilization as it prepares to roll out a School Health and Nutrition program in 2014. 2013 Total Direct Reach: 10,370 children and adults 2013 Key Results Early Childhood Care Basic Education (BE) & Development (ECCD) • The ECCD program scaled-up from 24 • In 2013, Zambia initiated a Basic Education program, building off of its existing ECCD to 34 centers, increasing enrollment program. This program focuses on improving the learning outcomes of children in primary from 475 at the start of 2013 to 1,182 school. in December 2013. The program also • The program worked closely with the MESTVEE at the regional and local levels on the transitioned its first cohort of 147 introduction of Literacy Boost, a set of activities to improve reading skills. The regional students to Grade One. MESTVEE team made a plan to roll-out the activities and began supporting teachers in 21 • In 2013, 1,182 children were recruited schools with the new approach. for enrollment in the ECCD centers • In order to foster a more print rich environment, 53,000 books were distributed to 7,917 through the community. children in the 21 Sponsorship-supported schools in 2013. • In 2013, a partnership with the • In 2013, the Ministry of Education teachers and teacher trainers took the lead in training Ministry of Education, Science, and supporting reading clubs in the communities (enhancing children’s literacy Vocational Training and Early environment outside of school is a critical part of Literacy Boost). They understood that this childhood Education (MESTVEE) led support will help the MESTVEE achieve its objectives related to children’s literacy. to the deployment of 20 ECCD government-trained teachers. These • In 2013, the program encouraged the MESTVEE to integrate the existing community teachers utilized the ECCD curriculum schools in the Save the Children area into their planning. Community schools were set up developed with support from Save the and run by volunteers in villages where there were no schools and these volunteers often Children in the Sponsorship Impact received little support or materials. After Save the Children’s lobbying they will now receive Area. technical support and resources from the MESTVEE. .