Hichilema’s Free Education Policy Transforms Lives Across Zambia

President Hakainde Hichilema’s New Dawn education policy is easing the financial burden on parents in vulnerable communities by offering free education to all children, regardless of background. The policy aims to create a level playing field where every child has equal access to opportunities and the chance to build a better future.

Since the policy was reintroduced, more than two million students have returned to school over the past three years, according to Hichilema’s February report. The impact is being felt in classrooms across the country.

Speaking to ZNBC News Today on 16 April, students at Twatasha Day Secondary School in Kitwe expressed gratitude for the initiative. They credited the policy with giving them the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

One such student, Dainess Mutanuka, a Grade 12 pupil, shared her story. Before the policy was introduced, she was unable to afford the fees to sit her Grade 7 exams and was forced to stay home for nearly three years. Thanks to the New Dawn policy, she’s back on track—and hopeful.

“Due to the free education, we are free to learn everything that is required,” she said. “This is my senior year—I’m reading secondaries.”

She also noted that the policy had lifted a heavy burden from her parents’ shoulders.

The New Dawn education policy underscores the government’s belief that no Zambian child should be denied the chance to learn. As President Hichilema has said, education is the greatest investment, the ultimate equaliser, and the most valuable inheritance a nation can give its children.