WB resumed funding to education

THE World Bank has resumed funding the Ministry of General Education to supply and deliver revised curriculum textbooks for selected grades.

The financing is in form of a credit from the World Bank International Development Association.

It will go towards the cost of the Zambia Enhancement Project that is intended to apply part of the proceeds of the credit towards payments under the contract of supplying and delivery of revised curriculum textbooks to selected districts in Zambia under a three-year framework agreement.

Donors had recently withdrawn their funding because of alleged misapplication of money by some officials at the ministry.

Ministry of General Education spokesperson Nondo Chilonga said evaluation and contract award would be on individual lot basis, which required bidders to register with the Book Publishers Association of Zambia and demonstrate their production and financial capacity to perform a contract.

Ms Chilonga said the process had been made easier through the removal of some clauses that had been barring some bidders from participating.

“Everyone is eligible, provided they produce good works,” she said. Ms Chilonga said the process of awarding the contract of supplying books was transparent and that the bidders would be selected on merit. “This will give chance to all those who are willing. The process is open to everyone to provide us merit and not shoddy work that may erode our education system,” she said.

No one who would be left out and all those who would meet the awarding conditions would qualify.

Ms Chilonga said there was no provision that barred other publishers to bid for tenders in the education sector provided they were registered in Zambia and fulfilled requirements of the Book Publishing Association.

The ministry made it mandatory that bidders should be registered, and that book publishing needed eligibility because it was in the public domain to ensure everyone participated.