Children in Zambia attend seven years of primary school, then two and three years at junior secondary and senior secondary school respectively then, for successful candidates, four years at university. Although primary school enrollment and attendance is good, attainment remains low, particularly for those aged between 14-17 years, with 43% of children deprived in this indicator, made worse by the fact that there are areas in Zambia that have no secondary schools. Overall, poor attainmnet is attributed to the low quality and efficiency of the school system in a country where the overall literacy rate stands at 55.3%, though significantly lower for females than males. Unfortunately there is an ongoing issue with a shortage of teachers so many children end their education without a firm grasp of key skills, although the situation has improved following the abolition of tuition fees.

Access to clean water and sanitation remains a challenge for children in Zambia with most low-income families in major towns and cities still reliant on privately-owned boreholes or shallow wells where water is expensive and often contaminated with raw sewage with poor quality water being one of the main causes of infections such as diarrhoea in the country. The situation is compounded by the impact of climate change as water shortages are becoming more common throughout the region of Africa which has one of the fastest growing populations in the world, adding to water scarcity and stress. The spread of AIDS/HIV has also affected life in Zambia with a national HIV prevalence rate of 11.3% among adults ages 15 to 49 as of 2018. Today there are an estimated 1.2 million orphans and vulnerable children living in Zambia, around half of them orphansed by HIV/AIDS.