The Higher Education Authority (HEA) will in 2024 introduce a seal on certificates of graduating students from the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Zambia.
Speaking during his address of HEIs at the End of 2023 Virtual Symposium held by HEA, the Acting Director-General, Dr Martin Mushumba stated that this measure was necessitated in order to compound on quality assurance in the higher education subsector.
“This will allow us to prioritise the welfare of learners by ensuring that when they graduate their certificates are not questioned,” Dr. Mushumba stated.
In ensuring that students lived in habitable environments, Dr. Mushumba also called on HEIs to prioritise the welfare of students by addressing concerns that arise in safeguarding students.
“Address the accommodation crises being faced by students who are being subjected to inhumane conditions in the boarding houses dotted around shanty compounds,” he said, adding, “students need to feel and be safe when studying.”
He added that the HEIs should further prioritise the accommodation for international students as this would raise Zambia into being a study hub of the region.
“We have the potential to become a leading hub in education in Southern Africa as evidenced by the desire for students to come and study in Zambia due to the strength on our education system,” Dr. Mushumba said, continuing, “for this to be achieved HEIs need to ensure that international students coming to study in Zambia have safe and secure accommodation near the campuses at which they study.”
Furthermore, the Acting Director-General called on HEIs to invest in infrastructure development.
“The standard of infrastructure is worrying considering that some students come from better secondary schools than the universities and colleges they end up joining,” he said.
Dr. Mushumba further stated that in 2024, HEA would be employing new strategies to strengthen quality assurance and improve information flow in order to eliminate information asymmetry in the sector.
“HEA instead to restructure in order to employ more staff that will improve service delivery and increase regional presence,” he added.
Dr. Mushumba stated that HEA would devote more time on training HEIs and their quality assurance units. Training for HEIs was announced for the April 2024 for colleges and June 2024 for universities and university colleges.
This is contained in a statement issued by Corporate Communications Officer Birbal Musoba.
