Digital Readiness, Real Skills: Lessons from Zambia’s TVET Sector

Creating more and better jobs is central to Zambia’s development path, particularly as the country seeks to equip its growing youth population with skills for a changing economy. As digital technologies reshape how firms operate and workers perform tasks, the ability to build relevant digital skills is becoming a key determinant of employability, productivity, and access to opportunity. Strengthening technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems is therefore critical to ensuring young people can transition into quality jobs.

Across the world, digital transformation is moving faster than education systems can adapt. New technologies are reshaping how people work, learn, and access opportunities. Yet for many youths, especially those enrolled in technical and vocational education and training, the benefits remain uneven.

In Zambia, we are increasingly seeing signs of this challenge. National strategies and investments in digital infrastructure indicate growing momentum toward a more digital economy, and employers demand workers who can use digital tools, adapt to new technologies, and solve problems in technology-rich environments. Training young people in digital skills is therefore one of the best ways to help them access the job market and unlock a stable, prosperous future.

TVET institutions play a critical role in this transition, training many of the youths entering technical and middle-skilled occupations. The question is: are they equipped to prepare students for these changing demands?

To try and answer it, we conducted two complementary studies with support from the Mastercard Foundation. One assessed the EdTech readiness of TVET institutions across Zambia. The other measured the digital skills of TVET teachers and students through a task-based assessment. Together, they offered a comprehensive picture of both the system and the people inside it.

Why Examining Readiness and Skills Together Matters
Across many countries, aligning education and training systems with labor market needs is widely recognized as a priority. Yet there is limited evidence on how training institutions are adapting in practice, or whether teachers and students possess the digital skills modern workplaces require.

In our view, today’s workers need more than technical knowledge: They must navigate digital tools, manage information, collaborate online, and stay safe in digital environments. Evidence from several African countries shows that digital skills are increasingly required across occupations, including roles traditionally considered low-tech. Jobs such as shop sales assistants, chefs, and truck drivers now involve digital systems, online platforms, or electronic payments.

What the EdTech Readiness Index reveals
When we examined the readiness of TVET institutions through the EdTech Readiness Index (ETRI), we focused on three pillars: device availability, internet connectivity, and instructor preparedness.

What we found was both encouraging and revealing.

Source: World Bank (2025). EdTech Readiness in Zambia TVET institutions 

Most institutions reported internet access, and broadband expansion represents real progress. Zambia has also introduced standards requiring devices in training institutions. On paper, the direction is clear. But the daily reality inside institutions looks different.

More than half of TVET institutions reported unreliable electricity despite being connected to the grid. When electricity fails, investments in devices and connectivity quickly lose their value. Computers cannot be used, networks go down, and digital learning becomes difficult to sustain. Access to devices is also limited. At least one third of institutions reported having no devices available for teaching and learning. In others, student-to-device ratios remain high, restricting regular use.

Instructor preparedness is another challenge. While Zambia does have a national digital competency framework, its application in TVET institutions is still limited. The majority of them do not provide digital skills training for instructors. Where training exists, it focuses mainly on basic skills, and most institutions have never formally assessed instructors’ digital competencies.

Source: World Bank (2025). EdTech Readiness in Zambia TVET institutions

What digital skills assessments show

Infrastructure and policies tell only part of the story. To understand how these conditions translate into real skills, we assessed teachers and students through a task-based digital skills test on the Pix platform. Rather than relying on self-reports, the assessment asked participants to perform real tasks, measuring what they could actually do and revealing important gaps.

Teachers demonstrated beginner levels of digital proficiency. They were able to complete simple tasks but struggled with practical activities such as managing files, identifying email attachments, or conducting effective online searches. While many teachers reported using AI tools, their broader digital proficiency appeared limited.

Students performed at even lower levels, with male students getting better results on average. Their skills were largely confined to basic tasks often associated with everyday smartphone use. Awareness of online safety and data management remained limited, including recognizing phishing risks or creating secure passwords.

Moving from momentum to meaningful change
Taken together, these findings pointed us to a simple reality. Zambia has made real progress and policy momentum exists, but infrastructure alone does not produce digital transformation.

Turning momentum into change requires coordinated action. Digital skills must be integrated into curricula and teacher training, while investments in electricity, reliable internet, devices, and technical support remain essential.

Encouragingly, the ETRI findings are already helping shape the design of an AI-enabled career guidance pilot, showing how system-level diagnostics can inform targeted solutions. Looking ahead, the Zambia Skills Training for Resilience and Industry Valued Employment (STRIVE) Project offers an opportunity to translate these insights into action by aligning digital skills with occupational training in priority sectors.