Quality Assurance Must Start Inside Institutions, Says Dr. Mushumba
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) Director – Quality Assurance, Dr. Martin Mushumba, has challenged Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to build quality assurance as an internal culture, not merely as a response to external regulation.
Dr. Mushumba was speaking during the opening day of the 2026 Winter School Capacity Building Workshop for HEIs at Chrismar Hotel in Livingstone.
The Winter School, which ran from 15th to 17th July, 2026, is being held under the theme, “Strengthening higher education curriculum quality through quality assurance in the era of digital transformation and artificial intelligence.”
In outlining the objectives of the workshop, Dr. Mushumba said HEIs must understand the relationship between internal and external quality assurance, especially as higher education responds to digital transformation and AI.
“Every time we talk about quality assurance in higher education, we should remember that we are not just talking about HEA as an external regulator, but we are also talking about yourselves applying internal quality assurance systems that you put in place,” he said.
Dr. Mushumba said that HEIs must ask themselves what they should be getting right as registered or recognised institutions, even before thinking about HEA as a regulator.
He said quality assurance must include ethical conduct, credible governance structures, internal systems and the correct implementation of standards in the day-to-day life of institutions.
“Because first of all, we are a registered institution, because we are a recognised institution, what are the things that we must be getting right to provide education that is acceptable?” Dr. Mushumba asked.
The Director – Quality Assurance said the Winter School was intended to help HEIs build capacity to respond to HEA’s quality expectations in the absorption and use of technology in the era of AI, emphasising that while they may compete for numbers and student enrolments, the most important parameter must remain quality assurance.
The Winter School as made the message clear for HEIs from HEA that quality cannot be inspected into an institution from outside if it is not first built from within.
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