The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) with support from network members from August 27th to September, 2nd 2024, held District Dialogue and interface meetings in Eastern Province in four districts of Vubwi, Sinda, Katete, and Mambwe.

The interactive District dialogue and interface meetings brought together stakeholders, such as officials from the District Education Board Secretary’s (DEBS) offices, District and, Provincial Education planners, District and Provincial Local Government Planners, Ward Development Committee (WDC)s Social Accountability Committee members, community members, Parent Teacher Committees (PTC)s and school Head Teachers to discuss issues around local education service delivery.

The District Engagements which were officially opened by District Commissioners, culminated into a Provincial interface meeting which was held on September 2nd 2024 in Chipata.

The dialogue and interface meetings were a follow-up to the service delivery monitoring scorecard that CSPR conducted in the project schools.

The scorecard focused on five key areas of desk and textbooks delivery, teacher-pupil absenteeism, construction and renovations, school safe plans and grant utilisation.

The bringing together of communities members, school authorities, district and provincial education and local government representatives in the district and provincial interface meetings created a platform for practical and tentative solutions to the challenges raised, in the results of the scorecard. The interactions fostered a spirit of teamwork and shared responsibility which include community/school collaborations in supplementing government’s efforts in addressing challenges in local service delivery in the education system.

CSPR continues to work hand in hand with the ministry of education, local authorities and communities for improved education outcomes!