PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema is right to say that free education has brought meaningful change to the lives of Zambians. Education remains the greatest equalizer in any society, and the evidence before us today makes it increasingly difficult for even the most hardened skeptics to deny the impact of this policy. The 2025 Grade 12 pass rate is not only impressive; it is historic and deeply inspiring. One cannot be forgiven for suggesting that these results have nothing to do with the free education policy, because they clearly do. When barriers to access are removed, when children are allowed to stay in school regardless of their parents’ income or social standing, outcomes improve. That is not ideology; it is common sense...
