A total of 13, 686 students across the country accessed Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) bursaries in the first quarter of 2026.

This is against a target of 1,500 students under the initiative, designed to support vulnerable but deserving students to pursue skills training in various sectors.

Co-Chairperson of Cluster Advisory Group two under the National Development Coordinating Committee, Brian Mwiinga disclosed this in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka.

Mr Mwiinga revealed that in an effort to enhance skills development in the country, a total of 40 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) lecturers were recruited past the targeted 12, for the first quarter of 2026.

He added that a total of 496 public and private institutions benefited from the TEVET fund financing against a target of 6, in the same period.

Mr Mwiinga, who is also Social Policy Lead for the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction, noted that such initiatives will contribute to reducing poverty levels in the country.

“Overall when you look at the benefits of achieving these targets, firstly, they are within the framework of the Eighth National Development Plan and then when you look at it critically, we are talking about education. You cannot have meaningful development without investing in the education sector. So such investments give us comfort that we are going in the right direction,” he emphasized.