By KENNEDY MUPESENI –

THE Government will continue forging partnerships with the private sector to achieve financial literacy for school going children, Education deputy Permanent Secretary Christine Mayondi has said.
Ms Mayondi said inculcating financial and business knowledge among young people will help them make choices that would shorten their lives of unproductiveness and contribute to national development and wealth creation.
“Given their energies and innovativeness, we are aware that our learners have the potential to contribute immensely to the social and economic development of the country if only they can exert their positive energies,” she said.
Ms Mayondi was speaking at the CitiBank Zambia sponsored Junior Achievement Zambia (JAZ) Orientation meeting for teachers in Lusaka.
The programme would be implemented in 22 secondary schools in Lusaka and Ndola districts.
JAZ board chairperson David Chakonta said with the financial support from Citi Foundation and CitiBank Zambia more than 500 young people would benefit from the programme.
“Apart from the entrepreneurship skills, we will be conducting a series of job shadow activities for the learners so that they can visit CitiBank Zambia staff to help them make informed career choices,” Mr Chakonta said.
The programme targeted young people from grade nine to 12 to help them better understand the role of business in the development of the country.
Through hands-on experience, learners would learn about the structure of the enterprise system and its benefits.
The training would comprise 12 modules which would be taught over a period of 15 weeks with the help of a teacher and volunteers from the business community.
The schools to participate in the programme had been selected in partnership with CitiBank as part of their staff would be involved in mentoring the learners as they implement their business ideas.