Quality teaching of classroom mathematics in schools begin with exposing student teachers to a quality teacher education curriculum during their teacher education programme. The rationale for this study was to analyse the mathematics teacher education curriculum by reflecting on lecturers’, students and in-service teachers’ perceptions. Mixed methods design particularly the convergent parallel design was used. Questionnaires were distributed to former university students who were teaching mathematics in Lusaka and Kitwe district of Zambia as well as final year student teachers who were on the programme and had done their school teaching experience. In addition, some teachers, lecturers of mathematics content and mathematics teaching methods were interviewed. The researcher used description and thematic analysis in analysing qualitative data and quantitative data was analysed through the use of the statistical package for social sciences version 20 where means and independent samples t-tests were used. The study key findings reviewed that the way teachers of mathematics were prepared for their professional classroom job was inappropriate as the curriculum they were exposed to during their teacher education programme was loosely linked to what the student teachers were expected to teach upon graduation in Zambian schools. This affected the way mathematics was taught in secondary schools. Besides, the mismatch in the two curricula led to teachers of mathematics with diplomas to divert to other teaching subjects when upgrading their studies to a degree level. Hence, it was recommended that the higher institutions of learning needed to consider the ministerial directive by reviewing the mathematics teacher education curriculum after thoroughly conducting a job analysis. It was also recommended that the Ministry of Education needed to reinforce the already existing continuous professional development to bridge the gap between the two curricula.

The relevance of the school curriculum cannot be over emphasised in every form of education system. Of vital importance in the upholding of curriculum relevance in any society is the insurance that it is well contextualised or localised. When the curriculum is not contextualised and its implementation process not localised, the education system risk producing learners in a vacuum who may not eventually play a significant role in solving various societal glitches. If a country is to achieve rapid economic growth however, its education should be related to productivity (Bishop, 1985). Some of the solutions to problems currently encountered in African societies and communities Zambia inclusive, must proceed from understanding the dynamics with the local context. It is from this background that this study was undertaken to explore perspectives on practical measures and policies in enhancing the implementation of the localised curriculum in Mwansabombwe district of Zambia. The researchers used qualitative research approach specifically descriptive research design to collect, analyse and interpret data. Out of the study population of 30,000 residents of Mwansabombwe district, 50 respondents were purposively sampled whose break downs were as follows; 10 local community members, 10 learners, 20 teachers, 5 officers from Mwansabombwe District Education Board Secretary’s office (DEBS) and 5 Education Standards Officers. Both semi structured interview guide and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data and content analysis was used to analyse the collected data. Research findings revealed that there was no effective implementation of the localised curriculum in Mwansabombwe district. This was necessitated by lack of appropriate practical measures by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to address key issues such as those that had to do with; teaching and learning materials, lack of capacity building amongst the teaching staff, lack of motivation amongst the learners, teachers and community members as well as ignorance on pertinent issues surrounding the localisation of the curriculum amongst various stakeholders. Hence from the research findings, it was recommended that the MoE need to thoroughly conduct both needs assessment and situation analysis for the localisation of the curriculum to be effectively implemented in Zambian schools. Besides, the MoE needed to reinforce policy on localisation of the curriculum in schools if the country was to achieve the intended results about the localised curriculum.

Curriculum implementation is part and parcel of the curriculum development process. When curriculum developers intend to develop a curriculum, they are expected to put in place ways and means of having it implemented. Once this is ignored, all the good efforts and aspirations of curriculum developers as well as of the general public risk being wasted and misrepresented. Therefore, a very good curriculum is worthless if it cannot bring about the results of what it was intended for. Based on studies that have been done both locally and internationally, the authors of this paper attempted to give an analysis of barriers that may render a well-developed curriculum useless if appropriate remedies or simply best practices of bridging the gap between the intended and achieved curriculum are neglected in the education system of the country. Due to several impediments to the effective implementation of the school curriculum, it was recommended that the Zambian government needed to put in place best practices that would improve the quality of Zambian education by providing adequate funding to the education sector and this will in turn lead to the country's economic development. There was also a need for the Ministry of General Education to consider improving; the quality and quantity of the teaching staff, availability of school facilities and equipment as well as ensuring that time is appropriately managed for the good management of the curriculum.