Not Just Another School in Africa: Education Exchange Between Zambia and Germany

25 June, 4:00 p.m., Room C
Hosted by CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg e.V.

Many schools in Germany seek partnerships with African counterparts and raise funds to buy supplies or improve local facilities. These initiatives are well-intentioned, but don’t live up to current principles of development cooperation which seek a more holistic approach. Apart from that, the economic support for schools in African countries can differ, with one school in a region getting a lot of funding from a German partner school, while many others do not.

CARE has started an initiative that seeks to overcome this gap. “WE CARE FOR ZAMBIA” combines education about development issues in German schools with improving education capacities in Zambia. In the eastern districts of Lundazi and Chama, CARE has partnered with a Zambian nongovernmental organization called Reformed Open Community Schools (ROCS) to improve the quality of teaching in community schools in rural areas. Together with CARE, ROCS aims to strengthen parent and teacher committees and support a curriculum that fosters civic engagement, democratic learning and gender equality.

To gain knowledge of Zambian realities and challenges for education, students in Germany will receive regular updates from the region. However, the German schools will not partner with one individual school, but instead help CARE raise the funds needed to implement this project benefiting 30 schools in two districts. CARE provides logistical support and spokespeople for school events in Germany and supports networking and information exchange among German schools who participate in the initiative.

This workshop will bring together Marlon Phiri, a representative from ROCS in Zambia, Sabine Kreutzer, a teacher from one of the German partner schools, Valeska Homburg, a well-known TV anchorwoman who recently visited the project region as well as Thomas Knoll, CARE’s manager for volunteers and school campaigns. They will discuss possibilities and challenges of this educational approach.

Panelists:

Homburg, Valeska (Moderator)
German Sports Journalist and TV Anchorwoman, Germany

Knoll, Thomas
Manager for Volunteers and School Campaigns, CARE, Germany

Kreutzer, Sabine
Head of Marie-Kahle Comprehensive School Bonn, Germany

Phiri, Marlon
Executive Director, Reformed Open Community Schools, Zambia