For this lesson, Mrs. Chewe has an unusual teaching assistant: a small radio near the front of the room. Students at the Regiment School benefit from the "Learning at Taonga Market" interactive radio instruction program, developed by the government of Zambia and funded partly by our government's Africa Education Initiative. Every day, during a 30-minute broadcast, about 80,000 Zambian children engage in fun educational activities that support the national curriculum. Guided by the radio, they write, role-play, solve math problems, sing and stage quiz competitions. The radio lessons are available for grades 1-7; by the end of the courses, the students are prepared to take the Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination. Judging by the response of students at the Regiment School, the interactive radio lessons are a huge hit.
We move out into the courtyard, where the school's younger students have already assembled for a performance by the Anti-AIDS Drama Club. Dances and drama are very popular forms of entertainment in Zambia. Skits are used to pass down traditional stories, and special dances mark important milestones, like weddings and funerals. Regiment School staff explain that drama and song are very helpful in opening dialogue about the delicate issue of HIV/AIDS, which still carries a heavy stigma.