Background, Structure and Methods

This page provides an in depth background to the work and aims of the CEF.

1. Background and structure

(a) Since 2003 the Christian Community Schools Association (CCSA) has been attempting to support community schools in the area surrounding Petauke, in the Eastern Province of Zambia. It has succeeded in providing a reasonable amount of material support to its member schools, which numbered twenty-four. It also provided training and encouragement for these schools and monitored their teaching through the work of its travelling secretary.

(b) Problems were experienced with registering the CCSA with the Zambian Government. Although it had an executive committee, comprising representatives of its member schools, there were problems with this and the committee ceased to function. Therefore it has become untenable to continue as a society with members, and the CCSA has been dissolved.

(c) The work of supporting education in the area should still continue. To avoid bureaucracy, a top-heavy and unsuitable structure and legal difficulties it has been decided to continue informally without any society involved. This means that donations will still be collected for a fund, which will be called the Christian Education Fund (CEF), and will be distributed in the area. The CEF is simply a name for the process of collecting and distributing these funds. It is not a formal organisation, society or association in Zambia.

(d) The CEF has an informal link with Covenant College of Petauke, in that some of the personnel of the college take an interest in and contribute towards the work of the CEF. Also the board of trustees of Covenant College (registered in Zambia) currently have oversight of the work and have determined who is to oversee the distribution of the funds.

2. Aims

(a) To promote Christian education in community schools in the Petauke area.

(b) To aid, support and encourage more effective education in community schools in the Petauke area.

3. Methods: an overview

(a) Distribute resources and provide training, advice, encouragement and incentives to improve educational standards to community schools in the Petauke area. This will be done at the discretion of the personnel overseeing the fund. This discretion will be closely guarded by guidelines, rules and systems, as will be outlined later.

(b) It is hoped that a number of community schools with considerable potential can be identified. These schools will be referred to as priority schools in the rest of this document. It is hoped this way to build up schools where a good Christian education is given. Initially it is expected that this will only be done for a couple of schools. It is hoped that eventually this will provide an incentive for other schools to improve their standards and employ Christian teachers, so that they also may receive this degree of support.

(c) We hope and expect to continue to give more basic support to a wider range of schools. These schools should receive basic materials; we hope also to give some training to their teachers. It is expected that these schools will include those who have been members of the CCSA, as well as other schools that come to the attention of the CEF and give reason to believe that supporting them would further the aims of the fund. This may include the schools of those who attended the CCSA’s teacher training conference and schools connected with the graduates of Covenant College for example.

4. Methods: the support given

(a) It is to be expected that the needs of schools will both become clearer and will change over time. This will be monitored by the travelling secretary and responded to. Therefore it is not possible to detail here a comprehensive list of the aid to be given. Nevertheless, some things are clear and some examples are given below. It must also be remembered that none of this assistance can be guaranteed to the schools. It will be provided as and when it is available, given the funds that are raised.

(b) The basic material assistance to be given to schools includes providing blackboards, chalk, board-dusters, board-rulers, pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, exercise books, teachers’ record-books and a Bible for each teacher.

(c) The extra support given to priority schools is likely to include the following: class-sets of Bibles (both English and Nyanja), reading books (both English and Nyanja), text-books, stationery for teachers, dictionaries and English guides, more than one exercise books per pupil when this is suitable.

(d) A main way to support the community schools is by providing training for the teachers. Some of this may be provided on a wide-scale. For example, when running a conference it is little extra work to cater for 100 teachers rather than 20 teachers. Also, when workshops are held for teachers being given priority, it will often be suitable to invite teachers from other nearby schools. Other training may be more focused on the priority schools. For example, teachers visiting from the UK may observe lessons in these schools and use this to provide specialised feedback and advice. They may also provide regular workshops on a particular topic for those teachers, for example on improving their English.

(e) A way of providing both training and resources for these teachers is through the teacher-training library, which has already been established, based at Covenant College. This is available to all teachers of schools that are supported by the CEF. It enables them to borrow books through which they can train themselves and their fellow teachers. It also provides a source of information to aid lesson-planning.

(f) All teachers who receive support from the CEF are expected to enrol on Covenant College’s correspondence course. This is a form of training, as well as a way to seek to grow spiritually and a way of trying to gauge a teacher’s commitment. The CEF will pay each teacher’s fees for each stage of the course.

5. Personnel

(a) A travelling secretary is paid a salary to distribute the material aid which is donated to the schools and to monitor how it is used. He has a separate job description as well as clear guidelines on how to monitor the schools. Currently this post is held by Solomon Lungu, who is a graduate and trustee of Covenant College.

(b) A representative in the Petauke area will oversee the work of the CEF and its travelling secretary. He has responsibility for the bank account which is used to collect the funds. Currently this post is held by Philip Bailey who is director of the farm at Covenant College and lives on site. It has been approved by the trust meeting of Covenant College that Philip Bailey should hold this post.

(c) A representative of the UK supporters will take responsibility for long-term planning of the CEF’s strategy and co-ordinating the work of its personnel. In particular this will involve co-ordinating the work of visiting volunteers and ensuring that their work contributes towards the long-term plan. Currently this post is held by Joseph Pettitt who is a trustee and visiting lecturer of Covenant College. It has been approved by the trust meeting of Covenant College that Joseph Pettitt should take on this task. He will also engage in raising support for the CEF in England.

(d) The librarian and administrator of Covenant College has provided advice to the CEF and overseen the day-to-day running of the teacher-training library. Currently this post is held by Justin Phiri. We are thankful for his help and hope that it will continue.

(e) It is hoped that others will provide advice for the CEF when it is needed. This may include teachers from the UK who have visited the schools involved and are familiar with the situation, as well as those in Zambia who are familiar with the situation.

6. Decision-Making

(a) This document plus the travelling secretary’s job description and guidelines should provide the basis for most day-to-day decision-making. This will be overseen by the representative in Petauke, who will be in regular communication with the representative of the UK supporters.

(b) For larger decisions not covered by these documents the travelling secretary must consult with the representative in Petauke; he will in turn consult with the representative of the UK supporters. If all three are in agreement then the decision will be implemented. When there is disagreement the advice of others in a panel of advisors will be sought. The majority decision will be implemented. Currently this panel comprises:

• Solomon Lungu (travelling secretary)
• Philip Bailey (Petauke representative)
• Joseph Pettitt (UK representative)
• Cammy Macleay (Teacher from Scotland who regularly visits the schools of Eastern Zambia)
• Leslie Zulu (teacher at Petauke Boarding High School and pastor)