Building a lasting foundation for gender-equitable education in Zambia
The Empowerment and Development for Girls’ Education project, known as EDGE, was a four-year initiative funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and delivered by the British Council in partnership with Zambia’s Ministry of Education and local education stakeholders.
Designed to support girls not only to enrol in school but to thrive, EDGE worked across national, provincial, district and school levels to strengthen gender-responsive leadership, safeguarding, professional ethics and evidence-informed decision-making within Zambia’s education system.
Now concluded, the project leaves behind a legacy of strengthened systems, partnerships, tools and leadership practices that continue to support safe, inclusive and equitable learning environments for girls across Zambia.
A system-wide approach to girls’ education
EDGE was built on the understanding that lasting change in girls’ education requires more than individual interventions. It requires strong leadership, coordinated policy action, effective teacher and school support systems, and evidence that reflects the realities of classrooms and communities.
Working closely with Ministry directorates, professional associations, teacher-training institutions and local partners, EDGE supported policy engagement, leadership capacity building, stakeholder collaboration and research generation. Safeguarding and learner protection were embedded throughout the project to ensure that inclusion, safety and professional ethics remained central to every intervention.
What EDGE helped to achieve
Over the course of the project, EDGE contributed to a stronger enabling environment for gender-equitable education in Zambia.
The project convened policy dialogues with senior education officials, helping ensure that national reforms were informed by practical insights from schools and communities. It delivered leadership orientation programmes and established peer-mentoring networks for head teachers and education system managers across all provinces. It also worked with institutions such as the David Livingstone College of Education to co-develop in-service training curricula and strengthen sustainable professional development pathways.
EDGE also produced research briefs, toolkits and practical resources to support curriculum development, monitoring, leadership practice and teacher professional learning. These resources have helped policymakers, school leaders and partner organisations apply evidence more consistently in their work to improve girls’ educational outcomes.
A legacy of leadership, safeguarding and evidence
One of EDGE’s most important contributions was its focus on leadership as a driver of equity. Through orientation programmes, mentoring and practical planning tools, school leaders were supported to adopt more inclusive practices and a “100 per cent success” mindset — one that encourages schools to see every learner’s progress as a shared responsibility.
The project also helped strengthen national guidance on school leadership and safeguarding through evidence-based recommendations. Partner organisations incorporated EDGE model work plans into their standard approaches, while policymakers gained access to a stronger evidence base to support data-driven decisions for girls’ education.
Together, these achievements helped move gender equality from aspiration to practice — embedding it into leadership behaviours, institutional planning and professional development systems.
Sustaining the gains
The long-term value of EDGE lies in how its approaches, tools and partnerships continue to be used and adapted by education stakeholders in Zambia.
The project’s learning points to several priorities for maintaining momentum beyond its implementation period. These include scaling up peer-mentor networks so that school leaders continue to receive support without over-reliance on central project teams; embedding follow-up systems to monitor the application of work plans and safeguarding protocols; clarifying supervisory roles across education directorates to reduce fragmentation; and empowering district-level teams to lead implementation at scale.
Above all, EDGE’s legacy depends on keeping child protection, safeguarding and inclusive practice as non-negotiable elements of leadership and teacher development.
Continuing the legacy
With the project now completed, the British Council recognises the commitment of the Ministry of Education, partner institutions, school leaders, educators and communities who contributed to EDGE’s achievements.
The next step is to sustain and institutionalise what has been built. By integrating EDGE-developed resources into national systems, expanding peer-mentor networks and continuing to strengthen in-service training programmes, education stakeholders can help secure high-quality, gender-equitable learning environments for every girl in Zambia.
The legacy of EDGE is not only what the project delivered, but what Zambia’s education system is now better equipped to sustain: safer schools, stronger leadership, better evidence and greater opportunity for girls to learn, lead and flourish.