Zambia has made history by enshrining free education as a legal right for every child in the country. President Hakainde Hichilema signed the legislation on Thursday, converting a popular policy into an enforceable entitlement — one that no future government can quietly reverse without a vote in parliament.
At a glance
- Free education law: The new legislation guarantees that no learner can be turned away from a public school because their family cannot afford fees, from early childhood through secondary school.
- Teacher recruitment: Since the fee-free policy was first introduced in 2022 C.E., more than 41,000 teachers have been recruited and school feeding programmes have expanded significantly.
- Legal protection: Families now have a clear legal basis to seek redress if a school attempts to charge unauthorized fees, closing an enforcement gap that existed under the previous administrative policy.
From campaign promise to constitutional-grade protection
Free education was one of President Hichilema’s defining pledges in the 2021 C.E. election, and he moved quickly after taking office to abolish tuition fees across public schools. The results were immediate: enrolment surged, new teachers were hired, and children who had been locked out of classrooms by cost began attending school in large numbers.
But the policy had a structural vulnerability. As an administrative measure rather than a law, it could be modified or abandoned by a future administration without any parliamentary debate. Advocates warned that the gains could be fragile if the policy lacked legal teeth.
Thursday’s signing changes that. The new law anchors the right to free education in Zambia’s legal framework, giving it the kind of durability that outlasts any single government.
What the law does
The legislation does several things at once. It prohibits public schools from charging tuition fees and gives families a formal avenue to challenge schools that break the rule. It sets accountability standards across the education system and requires parliamentary action to overturn the policy — a significant procedural barrier that protects the gains from administrative reversals.
President Hichilema described the signing as a “historic day for Zambia,” saying the legislation “secures free education for future generations and strengthens protections for workers and retirees through broader reforms contained in the same bill.” The bill covers more than education: it also addresses labor and retirement provisions, part of a broader social compact the government is trying to build.
“These reforms will improve the lives of millions of Zambians, from the classroom, to the workplace, and into retirement, while delivering greater dignity, security, and hope for our people,” the president said.
Why it matters beyond Zambia
Zambia’s move is part of a wider pattern across sub-Saharan Africa, where several governments have recognized that eliminating fees is one of the most direct tools available to close enrollment gaps — especially for girls, children in rural areas, and those from the poorest households. When fees disappear, attendance rises. When attendance rises over time, literacy and long-term economic outcomes tend to follow.
The government said the law will “help safeguard equity, improve literacy outcomes and support Zambia’s long-term development goals.” With 2.6 million children now protected under the legislation, those goals have a firmer foundation.
That said, the law’s success will depend on whether the government can sustain the funding needed to keep schools staffed and stocked. Enrollment surges create real pressure on infrastructure and teaching capacity, and the gap between legal rights and classroom reality can remain wide without consistent public investment. Monitoring how well the accountability provisions work in practice will be essential.
For now, Zambia has set a precedent: that access to education is not a favor a government can grant or withdraw, but a right the state is legally bound to protect. That distinction — between policy and law — may turn out to be one of the most important things a country can do for its children.
Read more
For more on this story, see: Voice of Nigeria
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Indigenous land rights get a major boost ahead of COP30
- Renewables now make up at least 49% of global power capacity
- The Good News for Humankind archive on Zambia
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