This article examines the effects of the current economic crisis on education in Zambia, and argues that the crisis has mobilised a remarkable amount of energy among parents, administrators and teachers, which has, paradoxically, helped to implement the recommendations of the Educational Reform document of 1977. Innovations such as production work in schools, teachers’ direct participation in efforts to improve the quality of education and the greater involvement of the community in school construction and maintenance have all challenged the government to introduce greater delegation of decision‐ making, in the interests of both efficiency and self‐reliance.