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Kalembeza : The Barotse National School
By Yuyi K Libakeni
Many, both at
home and abroad, have heard of, read about or visited the famous
Barotse National School (BNS) in Mongu. The school was founded by
King Lewanika in his great quest for the education of his Malozi
people. As part of the agreements with the BSAC, Lewanika demanded
of the Company and it agreed “to aid and assist in the education
and civilization of the native subjects of the King by the
establishment, maintenance and endowment of schools and industrial
establishments.” He also called on the missionaries to expand
their curriculum beyond the 3Rs. From both he found no solace
and this drove him, in 1900, to embrace the new Ethiopian Church in
what Prof Terence Ranger has called The Ethiopian Episode.
Unfortunately that Church soon fizzled out.
Intelligent and
far-sighted Lewanika demanded as a quid pro quo, a stake in
revenues from the new tax the company was to levy his subjects. Thus
assured of this permanent source of revenue, Lewanika proceeded to
found the Barotse National School in March 1907 in the Kanyonyo area
on either side of the Kambule stream. He then called his people, “Barotse
let us come out of our darkness … Send your children to school that
we too may become a nation.” The school registered its first two
pupils in August following the arrival of its first Headmaster,
Austin K Williams. A year later it had 66 students; the King himself
recruiting many of them, and the Headmaster recorded “one cannot
look upon the first year’s work of the school as other than a
successful one.” At Lewanika’s death in 1916 it had more than 200
pupils.
Reflecting
Lewanika’s educational philosophy, pupils spent equal time in the
classroom as the workshop, it enrolled industrial apprentices, and
reflecting realities of the time, the school had no age limit and
pupils received free issues of clothes, food and other essentials
with apprentices receiving semi-annual stipends. The school was run
through three main units : the elementary section running
sub-standard grades and Standards 1 and 2; middle school comprised
Standards 3 to 6; the third unit was industrial, including
agriculture.
The first Lozi
joined the teaching staff in 1911 and by 1948 all staff, including
the Headmaster were Barotse. It was the first school in the country
that was publicly funded and remained the only Native Authority
funded school until the late thirties. This early beginning,
according to Peter Snelson’s review of Zambia’s educational
development, aroused the jealousies and envy of other tribes not so
well served. In 1947 the NR government purchased the school from the
Barotse Native Government (BNG) and in 1953 the school opened the
first secondary class in the province, presenting its first
candidates for the Cambridge School Certificate Examinations in
l965.
BNS as a single
institution has ceased to exist and the name was abandoned under the
Kaunda government’s blind war on perceived tribal names but its
original units are today represented by Kambule Secondary, Kanyonyo
Basic and Mongu Basic Schools, the Trades school having moved to a
new site.
It is impossible
to overstate the contribution of this educational colossus in the
development of both Barotseland and Zambia as a whole. Thousands of
men and women, bright and beautiful, have passed through it. It is
more than Harrow or Eton, every child was welcome into its confines.
Indeed this is as the popular school song went: BNS onward to the
victory and progress, In games and school activities, BNS the Mother
of the schools, It will improve our Barotseland
In March 2007 the
BNS will be a hundred years old when Lozi tribesmen joined by their
admirers around the world celebrate their irreplaceable Kuomboka
ceremony. How rewarding to our founder Mawaniketwa Nakandambo
Imutakwandu Lubosi Lewanika if we could spice up the Kuomboka with
Centenary celebrations for our Mother of the Schools! If the idea
appeals get in touch 097253048 or
contact us
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December
2006