Mongu College of Education

MONGU COLLEGE OF EDUCATION.
Box 910294, MONGU.
Tel: +260217221222;

Tel +260 977 429520

Fax: +260217221256



Overview.

Mongu College of Education is a grant aided institution owned and managed by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Mongu.

It is located about 6 kilometres to the north of the main round about at ZESCO on the Mongu Limulunga road. It is bordered to the south by Holy Cross Secondary School and St Francis Catholic Church; Malengwa Primary School to the west and Sepo Convent to the north.

 It is a co-education institution with an intake capacity of 360.

It was opened in Lukulu at Sancta Maria by the Capuchin Fathers as Lukulu Training School in 1938 with the first students coming from Barotse National School and all were males. On taking over, the Holy Cross Sisters turned the training school into one for Domestic Science female teachers. The academic section was established later.

The College moved from Lukulu in 1965 to Malengwa in Mongu using a boat on the Zambezi river under the Principalship of Sister Annunciata Sonneleiter.In Mongu, the College had only two classrooms and two hostels to begin with and there was no accommodation for staff then.

In 1969, the College now with a 154 bed capacity for students, was officially opened by the then Minister of Education Mr W.P.Nyirenda. It also had 6 staff houses and two flats for staff and a large house for Sisters. Accommodation for 150 male students was completed in 1975 and the College recruited the first male students in 1976.

Vision
‘ A holistic Teacher Education Provider responsive to the needs of the child, nation and of time.’

Mission Statement

‘To produce quality teachers with Christian values to serve the nation.’

Mongu College of Education has contributed enormously to the development of the country by training teachers in line with its mission statement. Since it became a co-education College, Mongu College has been churning out about 150 teachers per year that took up teaching in various parts of the country. When ZATEC was introduced in 2000-2009, this number doubled to about 360 teachers annually. From 2009 to 2012, the figure was halved because training period was reversed to almost the same format that was used under ZBEC and ZPC.

COURSES OFFERED.

Since 1965, the following are some of the courses that have been offered at the College:

1965-1994- Zambia Primary Course. This was a three tier course that trained teachers for Upper Primary (U2), Lower Primary (L2) and Domestic Science teachers. In ZPC, students took 12 subjects which included Education , English, Silozi, Mathematics, Social Studies, Religious Education, , Industrial Arts, Music, Art, Physical Education and Science. Home Economics was for those that took Domestic Science.

1994-1999- Zambia Basic Education Course which trained teachers to teach all grades at Primary level. This also focused on audio lingual as a way of teaching English. In ZBEC, students took 14 subjects which included Education, English, Silozi, Mathematics, Social Studies, Religious Education, Industrial Arts, Home Economics, Music, Art, Physical Education, Science and Political Education

1999-2012- Zambia Teacher Education Course which aimed at alleviating teacher shortage in schools. Student Teachers were in the College for one year and then sent into school for one year to do their teaching practice. This doubled teacher output. Students no longer took segmented subjects like it was in ZPC and ZBEC. Subjects were integrated. The course had 6 Study Areas namely: Education Studies which had Philosophy of Education, Sociology of Education and Special Education; Literacy and Languages Education which combined English and Zambian Languages; Mathematics and Science Education which had Mathematics, Science and Agricultural Science. Mathematics has since been split from Science and the two are separate; Social, Spiritual and Moral Education which had Social Studies and Religious Education; Technology Studies which had Home Economics and Industrial Arts and Expressive Arts which had Music, Art and Physical Education. Each Study Area is headed by a Head of Section while the Library Section is headed by a Senior Librarian.

The College has since January 2012 started a three year pre-service Primary Teachers’ Diploma Course. At the end of every year, examinations shall be conducted. Only those that will pass the examinations shall proceed to the next level in addition to meeting continuous assessment requirements. At the end of the three year course, successful candidates shall be awarded a Diploma in Primary Teaching by the College in conjunction with the University of Zambia.

Staffing.

The College currently has 52 employees out of an expected staff of 64. Of these, 36 are lecturers and the rest are ancillary staff found in all sections of the College.

Since 1965, the following have been Principals:
Sr. Annunciata Sonneleiter               1965-1970
Sr Regina McElroy                           1970-1976
Fr. John Grace                               1976-1979
Mr. Leonard Njamba                       1979-1985- First Zambian Principal
Mr. Francis L.Muhau                       1985-1994-Second Zambian Principal
Mr. Francis .L.Belemu                    1994-1998-Third Zambian Principal
Mr. Francis M.Mwiyambango           1999-2010- Fourth Zambian Principal
Mr. Foster .M.Kabutu                    2010 to date-Fifth Zambian Principal

Student Selection.

Students are selected through open interviews held every year in August/September. The entry qualifications and age are prescribed by the Ministry of Education. However, the minimum entry requirements are 5 O’ Levels which must include English, Mathematics and Science or any qualifications that the Ministry may advise. However, 60% of students enrolled must come from the organization that runs the College and in this case, the Catholic Church provided they meet the entry requirements. The course starts in January of every year.

Other Courses offered.

The College will very soon start offering a Primary Teacher Education Diploma by modular mode (Distance Education).
The College in conjunction with Binary University of Malaysia will also very soon start offering degree programmes in Education and Business Studies.
The College is also a satellite College for National In-Service College (NISTCOL) now Chalimbana University which is offering Primary Teachers’ Diploma by Distance Learning (PTDDL) and Education Leadership Management (ELM) to serving teachers.

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