PRESS RELEASE: Higher Education Authority Audits 9 Colleges for Violating Enrolment Requirements

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has conducted nine (9) incidental audits on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), specifically on named colleges, and confirmed the allegations that these institutions had enrolled students who did not meet the entry requirements of five (5) O-Level credits or better.

HEA conducts incidental audits where it has reason to believe that an HEI has mismanaged funds or the academic processes. In this respect, several colleges were audited for mismanaging the academic process.

Therefore, the Authority has directed the colleges to, with immediate effect, implement the following:

1. All first-year students who had been enrolled and do not meet the entry requirements must immediately stop learning and will not proceed with their studies until they obtain a full Grade 12 Certificate with at least 5 O-level credits or better.
2. All second-year students who were enrolled in first year without meeting the entry requirements must immediately stop learning and will not proceed to third year until they obtain a full Grade 12 with at least 5 O-Level credits or better.
3. Third-year students will not advance to teaching practice unless they hold a complete Grade 12 certificate with a minimum of 5 O-level credits.

Furthermore, HEA is directing all HEIs failing to meet these standards to cease this practice and adhere to the enrolment requirement of at least 5 O-level credits.

The Authority will conduct compliance audits on this directive in the second quarter of 2025, at which point punitive measures will be applied to any HEI found in violation.

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Note: The press release was issued on 26^th November, 2024.

Watch the video of the press release on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/9Ni1WxWEUrI

Downloads:

1. PDF copy of the Press Release: https://hea.org.zm/download/hea-press-release-pdf_audit-of-9-colleges-for-violating-enrolment-requirements-26-11-24/
2. MP3 audio of the of the Press Release: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17gh2nxoC1m3jOFfCz2naHlC07aqi5DMV/view?usp=sharing
3. MP4 video of the of the Press Release: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pHTPse5sHmNjUj7se-e0fRodILPTbYGP/view?usp=sharing

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