Primary School in Zambia

In Zambia many children do not have access to quality education. Children who attend government schools often have one teacher for a classroom of 100 students, and no supplies. At Pure Nard Preschool and Primary School, students are in a class of 25 or less where the teacher knows them and knows what they want to be when they grow up. The students at Pure Nard schools want to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, pastors, and pilots. Children in Zambia also generally do not learn written English until 5th grade. Students are required to take government-mandated exams in written English in 7th, 8th and 9th grades. Students must receive a passing grade to advance to the next grade. If students do not pass their exams, their opportunity for continued education is finished. At Pure Nard Preschool, children begin learning English at age 3, giving them a huge advantage and preparing them for educational requirements in the years to come. This education is changing the whole community.

Pure Nard Ministries is located in Mungu, a rural community south of the nation’s capital, Lusaka. Pure Nard Preschool has three classes; a Baby Class (3 year olds), a Middle Class (4 and 5 year olds) and a Reception Class (which we know as kindergarten, for 6 and 7 year olds). The preschool is an English-medium school, giving a head-start for some of the world’s poorest children as they gain school readiness. The school serves its children and their families by providing a quality education, but it also serves the community by providing meals for students and by drawing families into the church. Future goals for the school include adding classes up to grade seven and preparing students for grade seven exams and secondary school. Serve the Children has been partnering with Pure Nard Ministries to build the new primary school for the last few years. First and second grade classrooms were completed in the summer of 2023. In February of 2024, Pure Nard Primary School opened it's doors to the community of Mungu and the surrounding area, welcoming their first ever class of first grade students to the primary school.

The community of Mungu is calling the new primary school a "Beacon of Hope." Please help us continue to offer hope and a future to this community by supporting the next phase of work on the primary school: third and fourth grade classrooms. Thank you for your partnership as we press on to the goal of offering classes through seventh grade in the coming years.