RB secures $475,000 for Senior Chipolopolo’s preps – Apr 15,2009

Just where are Zambia’s development priorities? Soccer always seems to take centre stage and every programme is tgrown to the gutters on a mere mention of the word “soccer”. From time immemorial,successive Zambian governments have treated the lack of funds to support socceras an emergency and have thus gone all-out to source funds to support soccerand it’s no-good players. When one looks back, one cannot remember if there wasa time when the national team ever brought glory to the country even after spendingvast sums of hard earned dollars and tax payers monies. When it comes tosoccer, it’s a no-brainer for the leadership and no much thought is put to itto determine the relevance and significance of the sport to the economy. If,for once, all the tax-payers monies spent on soccer could be directed atimproving our “slap-stick” infrastructure more would be achieved overtime. This brings to mind the endless and heartbreaking plight of Zambianteachers who struggle on daily basis to survive on their meagre salaries. Theseteachers are much more deserving and important than those knuckle-heads playingsoccer for the Zambia National Team, includng their FAZ officials. Ourcurrently demotivated  teachers would be better motivated toteach our children if they were to be well remunerated. One wonders why theZambian leadership has failed to appreciate the importance of a teacher in oursociety.$0$0$0$0While the importance of sports cannot be negated, it is vital to appreciatethe role teachers have consistently played in all our lives. I cannotimagine how some of those leaders that can hardly speak english coherentlywould have been if we didn’t have teachers that still remain committed to theircalling and ideals inspite of the unappreciative government. WIthoutteachers, most people would not be able to read and write. If anything, themajority of the Zambian soccer players are miserable elementary and high schooldrop-outs that don’t deserve to be paid more than our teachers. The currentscenario makes it easy to understand why our educational standard in Zambia iscurrently lower than it was 20–40 years ago. It is common knowledge that poorteacher conditions obtaiining in the nation have condemned the teachers to alife of perpetually spending most of their time seeking survival alternativesto suplement their meagre incomes.$0$0$0$0$0As a country, we must come p with policies that will enhance our educational standards through better teachers salaries and conditions of service. Among these policies would be one that would structure teachers salariesto levels above the country’s poverty datum line, whatever it is. Theseteachers must receive a salary that would present them with opportunites save aportion of their salaries on monthly basis and also afford them a decentlifestyle.$0$0$0$0$0