“Be Innovative and Collaborate” – Minister of Education Challenges Public Universities
The Honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Douglas Munsaka Syakalima, MP., challenged public universities to be collaborative, innovative and in touch with industry so that graduates do not go to learn how to do the job when they are in industry.
The Minister of Education said this when he gave the keynote address at the two (2) day engagement meeting the Higher Education Authority (HEA) had with public universities at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.
The Honourable Minister of Education, who was due to fly out of the country to Algeria at midday on the same day as the start of the engagement meeting, pushed back his departure time until the evening in order for him to grace the event and signal how important the meeting was being taken by his Ministry and the Government of the Republic of Zambia.
“I invite you colleagues in universities and colleges, please be innovative and collaborate,” he said, continuing “Be in touch with industry so that our students don’t go to learn when they go to industry.”
Mr. Syakalima further stated that this was the challenge that he wanted to place on higher education systems and charged HEA Director-General, Professor Kazhila C. Chinsembu, with it.
“Professor Kazhila Chinsembu, we must also check our private universities (in order) to relink them with public universities,” Mr. Syakalima said, adding, “We can easily get who is doing well and how they are doing it so that we call can do it.”
The engagement meeting HEA had with public universities on Thursday and Friday, 25th and 26th April, 2024, was with senior management of these universities, namely, the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer. The public universities made presentations on their statuses, funding profile, achievements, innovations made by the university to support institutional sustainability, and challenges being experienced.
The public universities that presented were Chalimbana University, Copperbelt University, Kapasa Makasa University, Kwame Nkrumah University, Mukuba University, Mulungushi University, University of Zambia, and Zambia University College of Technology.
Levy Mwanawasa Medical University was only in attendance.
Download the presentations of each university here.
