Upskilling for teachers

More than 260 teachers upskilled on modern teaching techniques in Zambia’s Solwezi and Kalumbila Districts as part of First Quantum’s commitment to supporting the education of the next generation of people who will live and work close to our operations in Zambia.

The foundations for success
Our vision is that the communities near our operations should continue to thrive long after our operations have ceased. We believe there is no surer way to achieve this than to support quality education systems that will empower those communities in the future.

Throughout our decades-long history in Zambia, we have invested over US$70 million in education, from formative early years education through to our Kwambula Training at the Solwezi Trades Training Institute. We have built classroom blocks and teacher accommodation, delivered desks, and donated digital learning platforms and more than 90,000 textbooks to more than 50 schools near our operations.

Resources alone are not enough
However, we have found that, despite our best intentions in providing additional resources to schools, resources alone do not improve outcomes for children. Teachers’ professional capabilities is one of the key factors that determines educational attainment. We support teachers with a Continuous Professional Development Program which provides training for teachers in modern teaching methods. We sponsor an Education Champion, who works full time as mobile mentor to support teachers’ learning and the implementation of improved teaching methods in classrooms. We conduct literacy and numeracy assessments in schools to monitor and evaluate school improvement.

The program is being implemented in 50 government and community schools in the two districts around our Kansanshi and Sentinel mines. We sponsor a number of different types of scholarships to meet the needs of children and families. We make cash payments to schools for families of primary and secondary scholars to encourage them to be kept in school.

Going beyond schooling
Our scholarship program doesn’t end at school. As Zambia’s largest private sector employer, we know the importance of excellent vocational training. We sponsor around 150 students and interns in various trades and vocational training programs. The 2017 and 2018 intakes have been 100 per cent female, in order to address the gender imbalance in the mining industry. And we support student attendance by providing school meals every day for 6,000 school students. This nutrition support contributes to the improved performance of children in class.