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Although Judith Muzona has been in education for more than 20 years, she initially didn’t want to become a teacher: “My father was a head teacher and convinced me that you could never go wrong with education. But when the letter came calling me to secondary teacher training, I hid it from him and fled to Copperbelt to stay with my cousin, thinking I could escape teaching for good. It turned out my cousin lived right next to a teachers’ college. There was no escaping it.” Today, Judith lives and breathes education, so devoted to it that it's hard to believe she once fled from the very thing she'd come to love.
As an Education Officer for Teacher Education at the Provincial Education Office in Lusaka, Judith trains, coaches and mentors teachers who are part of the Catch Up Programme. Catch Up is Zambia’s version of Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL), a remedial education approach that groups learners by literacy and numeracy proficiency rather than by age or grade, so they can build foundational skills and catch up to grade-appropriate levels. Judith first encountered Catch Up in 2019, when it rolled out in Lusaka. “I didn't know what to expect,” she says. “But now, I’ve made it a priority to ensure that any literacy intervention is channeled through teacher education.” For Catch Up to work, teachers need proper training in the approach and to deliver the classes the same way, every time.
Tracking What Works
Throughout her career, Judith saw up close how Zambian learners were falling behind: “Since 1999, I’ve been involved in the national reading and mathematics assessments for Grade 2. Our reading standards have been very low.” Judith could see the numbers clearly. What she couldn’t see was whether or how schools were addressing it. “Before, we would send letters to schools to ask them to do general remedial work, but there was no way to monitor whether teachers were following through,” says Judith. The government had to reconsider how literacy support reached classrooms throughout the country. That’s when Catch Up came into the picture.
Fast forward 10 years since the beginning of Catch Up, the Zambian Ministry of Education employs a hands-on model. Led by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Catch Up is supported by VVOB, Teaching at the Right Level Africa, UNICEF and delivered by government teachers, with coordination by Provincial and District Education Offices. Throughout the education system, these officials are actively involved in monitoring and coaching teaching, helping them assess learners’ literacy and numeracy levels and deliver Catch Up classes. At the school level, mentor teachers act as frontline supporters: observing classrooms, conducting assessments and delivering remedial training to peers. “I was so happy”, Judith says. “Finally, a way to track how remedial work was actually being done.” The data tells an encouraging story as well: An independent randomised controlled trial from 2025 found that after two years of Catch Up, learners' test scores improved measurably in both literacy and numeracy. The gains were equivalent to roughly one extra month of learning, layered on top of what children would have picked up through regular schooling alone. Judith is candid that challenges remain, such as inconsistency in teaching and uneven school-level support, but she’s optimistic: “We are almost there. We are trying our best and that helps a lot.”
"Inspectors would park their car far away and sneak to the window to secretly observe, then write a critique without ever speaking to the teacher."
From Inspection to Mentorship
Rethinking the role of regional education officials has been a cornerstone of Catch Up, reshaping how they operate at school, zonal and provincial level. Before Catch Up, district school inspectors were sometimes seen as unapproachable, formal and one-way. Judith remembers a story from her father: “Inspectors would park their car far away and sneak to the window to secretly observe, then write a critique without ever speaking to the teacher.” The result, she says, was teachers left crying rather than supported.
As Education Officer for Teacher Education at Lusaka’s Provincial Education Office, Judith works closely with teachers often, turning assessments into learning experiences. “It’s my vision that every primary school teacher, not just an initial trained few, understands and is able to teach Catch Up classes”, she says. To make sure teachers are properly monitored and coached, she regularly visits schools to consult with the teachers. “We observe their lessons and sit down with them afterwards to discuss their practice and where they might experience challenges.” Judith notices that every teacher’s gaps look different: one might struggle with selecting the right activities, another with lesson procedure, another with delivery itself.
Dr Judith Muzona speaks in front of a group of teachers.
Credit
Christine Redmond, VVOB
Big, Strong, Reliable and Colourful
One element Judith notes frequently comes up during assessments is access to and use of good teaching materials. Before, many materials were manufactured elsewhere and came in kits with too many small pieces. Losing even one piece could make the whole set unusable. “We often weren’t sure where to find new materials, so being consistent in having good teaching materials was difficult,” she says. That's why, in VVOB’s Catch Up and IT'S PLAY projects, we encouraged teacher-made, locally sourced materials.
How teachers use materials is just as important as whether they have them. During assessments, Judith looks for two things: appropriate use by both teacher and learners, and the teacher’s resourcefulness in making materials themselves. “If a teacher has 10 groups of learners but only brings one item for the whole class to share, we’ll discuss it as an action point. Not for lack of materials, but for lack of resourcefulness”, Judith says.
Materials also need to be clear and suited to children: “In Lusaka province, we have a motto: materials should be big, strong, reliable and colourful,” Judith explains. “If a teacher is showing a letter to the whole class, it needs to be large enough to see from a distance and laminated so learners can hold it without it falling apart.”
Growing Together
Despite her initial doubts decades ago, Judith does not regret choosing a career in education: “My happiest memory is when we’ve trained teachers on pedagogical skills, and then I go out, and see them implementing it and learners are performing well.”
Being part of Catch Up has also given her a unique perspective on partnership: “I've enjoyed the relationship between partners. It’s not just work; it’s a personal relationship too. We make each other grow every day.”
“Catch Up has come to stay. Our partners might go, but this methodology will remain with us for as long as our children need to read and write.”
Looking at the Programme’s future, Judith is hopeful: “Catch Up has come to stay. Our partners might go, but this methodology will remain with us for as long as our children need to read and write.”