1. Emphasis on labour-intensive technology, particularly in
manufacturing and construction sectors.
2. Raising productivity of subsistence agriculture and the
informal sector.
3. stemming the rural-urban migration as a consequence of the crash programme of rural development.
4 Large-scale skill training programs.
5 Making institutional arrangements for manpower planning, particularly, planning of managerial and supervisory
manpower.
According to the available population projections, the total population of Zambia was likely to increase from 5.5 million in
1978 to 6.4 million in 1983 at an annual rate of 3.3 per cent.
Based on these estimates, the labour force was expected to increase
by an average rate of 4 per cent per year. From, these projection the labour force was expected to increase from 1,586,200 in 1977 to 1,962,300 in 1983 an increase of 376,100 persons. On the average, about 63,00 new jobs had to be created per annum to absorb the new additions to the labour force. Moreover, new employment opportunities had to be created to absorb the existing backlog of the unemployed and the Underemployed. The employment potential
envisaged in the plan was based on the projected rate of economic qrowth, the Sectoral allocation of resources, investmentpriorities, choice of production techniques, the assumed rates of
qrowth in labour productivity, the incomes and wages, fiscal andmonetary policies, etc. In general, the country expected to rely
heavily on the opportunities of self-employment likely to be generated both in the urban and rural areas. As argued previously, the strategy adopted in the TNDP towards the employment problem was to absorb the unemployed and the underemployed in increasing agricultural production and in settling people permanently on the land. Government had to open up new areas of high agricultural potential through well integrated package of extension services, land clearance and development projects and settlement schemes.High emphasis was also placed an the development of agro-industries, manufacturing sectors, infrastructural facilities, etc.
Formal sector employment declined during the First and Third National development plans periods due to the poor performance of the national economy. Subsequent extrapolation of these employment trends into the 4th plan period indicated further declines in employment figures from 356.620 in 1989 to 356,250 in 1993.
However, since the employment objectives of the 4th plan was to increase formal employment through various interventions, including reversing the past trends, it was expected that employment opportunities would increase from 372.987 in 1989 to, 393,595 in 1993. This employment projections was developed on the basis of the
expected sectoral growth rates.
Thus, the major policy objective of the 4th NDP was the
formulation and implementation of appropriate strategies and programmes aimed at generating employment. The growth rate of the labour force was expected to exceed the projected real GDP growth rate of 3 per cent over the plan period. It was anticipated that the formal sector would not generated enough employment to meet increased demand. Conseguently, the informal sector was expected to continue to comprise the biggest part of the employed labour force- The employment strategy towards the informal sector involved the provision of incentives to raise productivity and incomes.
(c) Eduction
The Third National Development Plan 1979-1983 (TNDP) aimed at providing the opportunity for reorienting the educational system towards the needs and aspirations of the nation by initiating, mobilizing and implementing the Education Reform of October, 1977.
The reforms were to involve many changes in various aspects of the educational system, aimed at making the system more effective along the following lines : (1) improve the guality of education and education services; (2) improve the quality of teacher reeducation and their professional development; (3) elimination of whatever imbalances in educational provision; (4) Expand and diversify the provision of continuing education; (5) harmonise the educational facilities; (6) encourage self-help educational projects by communities; (7) completion of localization of School Certificate Examination; etc.
The long term goal in basic education was to achieve 9 years Universal basic education for every child. During the TNDP attempts were to be made to enrol all the children aged 7 in Grade 1. In view of the high rate of growth of the eligible population, it was estimated that additional 606 and 936 classes were required during the plan period for Grade 1 and Grade 5 respectively. The duration of Junior Secondary School was to be reduced from 3 years to 2 years and the progression from Grade 7 to 8 was expected to rise from 17 per cent in 1978 to 21.1 per cent in 1983.
With respect to primary school enrollment (classes 1-7), it was projected that the 962,360 students, in 1978 would increase to 1,154,160 students in 1983. Enrollment in the Government and Aid Senior Secondary Schools was also expected to show significant growth. It was project that enrollment in 11 and 12 Grades would increase from 10,290 an 9,205 in 1978 to 11,270 and 11,270 in 1983 respectively.
Training of teachers both for Secondary and for primary Schools was another area in the TNDP. New and untrained primary school teachers were to be trained to satisfy demand created by expansion and replacement. Regarding secondary schools, the plan intended not only to increase the number of teachers but also to rapidly reduce the reliance of the system on non-Zambians. It was expected that the number of Zambians in the Secondary School teaching force would rise from about 51 per cent in 1978 to about
74 per cent in 1983. .
University of Zambia was to develop on a federal basis, with two new campuses. In order to provide opportunities for those who wish to advance their general education while professional or
cultural studies, continuing education, was to be enhanced by expanding existing programmes and introducing a wide range of new
ones.
The quality of education during the TNDP period declined sharply due to financial and other constraints such as excessively
large classes, poor furnished classrooms, dilapidated buildings,
scarcity of text books, science equipment and other essential items. During the same period, minimum expansion took place at the primary, junior, secondary and university levels, while enrollment in other subsectors remained stagnant or even declined.The period of the 4th NDP was designed to provide another opportunity for concerted efforts in implementation of the educational reforms. Given the current economic constraints regarding adequate provision of educational services, the general aims of the sector would be to foster judicious expansions and to enhance quality of education. Thus, the specific objectives of the FNDP were : improvement in the performance of educational institutions; provision of pre-school education; provision of equitable educational opportunities at basic levels; widen access to primary and secondary education; enhance research and training
at tertiary levels; etc.
The overall objectives of the plan were to be implemented by the adoption of three major strategies : qualitative strategy, quantitative strategy, and cost-effective strategy. The quantitative strategy relates to the following : (1) establishment of pre-school education for children below seven years; (2) restriction of class size from growing to more than 45 pupils and maintenance of the double and triple session system at primary education level; (3) opening of additional classes, especially for grade 8 classes which were to be financed partly by the government and partly by the community; (4) increase the overall intake in teacher and other training colleges to respond to the demands in primary and secondary levels and other sectors; (5) investment on further improvement of universities, particularly on copper-belt university; (6) further improvement of special education for disabled children; (7) widely apply continuing education through various measures; (8) strengthen learning under the National Correspondence, college.
In view of financial constraints and the need to ensure cost effectiveness, it was thought necessary to reduce unit cost by instituting cost saving measures and introducing cost-sharing schemes. In this connection, the government hoped to (1) make use of under-employed teaching staff; (2) Rationalizing the employment and utilization of non-teaching staff; (3) introducing cost-sharing between the government and users; (4) rationalizing courses and enrollments in relation to manpower needs. As indicated earlier, one of the major objectives of the educational reform was to provide seven years of primary education to all children of school-going age as a first step towards the achievement of the nine year's universal basic education. This requires construction of new schools, expansion of the existing ones training of more teachers, provision of more equipments, materials aids, provision of facilities for continuing education, special education for handicapped (deaf, blind, mentally, and physically handicapped).
etc. The total expenditure on education during the plan period was estimated to be K 131 million out of which approximately K 25 million was for primary education.
(d) Health