“Graduate Unemployability Begins in Irrelevant Programmes” – Professor Chinsembu
Higher Education Authority (HEA) Director-General, Professor Kazhila C. Chinsembu, has warned that the problem of graduate unemployability begins where Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) fail to pay serious attention to the quality and relevance of the education they provide.
Professor Chinsembu made the remarks during the opening of HEA’s five (5)-day orientation training workshop on the newly developed Quality Assurance Management Information System (QAMIS) at Sandy’s Creation Resort in Chilanga, where 50 HEIs are being trained on the online accreditation platform.
The Director-General said that Zambia can no longer afford academic programming that is disconnected from the needs of the economy, especially as the country moves towards a 24-hour economy that will demand new and more responsive skills.
“The problem of graduate unemployment is because of the fact that we have not paid attention to the quality of education, and we have not paid attention to the relevance of the education that we are giving to our graduates,” Professor Chinsembu said.
He explained that QAMIS has been introduced precisely to help speed up programme accreditation and provide institutions with timely feedback so that they are able to undertake curriculum innovation and develop learning programmes that speak directly to national needs.
“How are we going to produce the new skills needed for a 24-hour economy if accreditation is slow?” he asked, arguing that faster, more efficient accreditation is no longer just an administrative convenience, but an economic necessity.
Through the new digital system, HEA expects to improve the pace and quality of accreditation decisions and support HEIs to mount learning programmes that produce graduates who are relevant not only to themselves, but to Zambia’s development ambitions.
The QAMIS training workshop is being held from Monday, 23rd to Friday, 27th March, 2026, with the system having been developed by the SMART Zambia Institute in collaboration with the HEA development team led by Mr. Francis Kawesha, Senior Information Technology Officer.
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Professor Chinsembu giving his remarks as representatives from HEIs listen.
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