In most Zambian classrooms, children with disabilities sit unidentified, unsupported, and increasingly disengaged. The barriers are not a lack of concern — teachers want to help — but a lack of tools, training, and systems. There is no simple way for a primary school teacher in Zambia to identify whether a child's struggles with reading are caused by a vision impairment, a hearing difficulty, or a cognitive difference, let alone to know what to do next. Without identification, there is no referral. Without referral, there is no assessment. Without assessment, there is no support. Children fall further behind, lose confidence, and often drop out. RISE was created to break this chain — to put the first, critical step of identification into the hands of the people closest to the child: their teacher.
RISE trains every primary school teacher to administer a validated screening tool, adapted from the Washington Group Child Functioning Module, covering speech, hearing, vision, cognition, motor skills, emotion, and daily living. Identified learners are then assessed by the School Inclusion Team — trained colleagues who coordinate referrals, monitor progress, and implement Individualised Education Plans. Learners needing specialist assessment are referred to a dedicated Centre for Assessment and Assistive Devices, co-located at a government hospital, where teams across eye, ear, physiotherapy, and mental health departments provide coordinated support. Assistive devices are procured and distributed through this same pipeline. The entire model runs through government structures — no parallel systems, no outside specialists replacing teachers. Evidence so far: in Kabwe District, 47,249 of 47,916 enrolled learners screened (99%); 813 children identified with disabilities; 94% retained in school with active support; 322 assistive devices distributed.
RISE is in its third year of implementation across Kabwe and Chibombo Districts in Zambia, working in partnership with Zambia's Ministry of Education (MoE). In Year 2, 1,473 teachers were directly trained in screening and assessment, and a further 1,447 in inclusive pedagogy. 74 School Inclusion Teams are now active. 918 children have been assessed at the Centre for Assessment and Assistive Devices at Kabwe Central Hospital. The model is embedded in official MoE teacher training and monitored by government officials at national, provincial, district and zonal levels. Community Champions — 89 trained volunteers — are conducting child-find activities in surrounding communities, identifying children with disabilities who have never accessed school. From April 2026, RISE has expanded into Chibombo- its second district- training a further 659 teachers in screening and assessment. District-wide screening is now underway and RISE is on course to screen a further 50,000 learners by July 2026. In the next 2–3 years, RISE aims to complete rollout across both districts, publish a replication guide, and work with the MoE to integrate the screening and assessment tools into national teacher training as standard practice — so that every Zambian child enters school with the right to be seen.
In Year 2, following baseline evaluation findings that only 8% of teachers demonstrated highly effective inclusive classroom practices, RISE adapted its general school monitoring visits into targeted coaching and mentorship sessions — providing focused, ongoing feedback to individual teachers rather than group observation. Six community champions were also redeployed earlier than planned to support coordination of hospital-based assessments, reflecting the high referral volumes generated by district-wide screening. The screening tool itself has been refined based on Year 1 field experience to improve teacher usability in large, multilingual classrooms.
Contact School-to-School Zambia to request the Teacher Training Guide and Screening Tool, both co-developed with Zambia's Ministry of Education. Adaptation support is available for new country contexts. Training can be delivered in-country or via partnership.
