HEA Holds Series of Meetings with HPCZ on Transition of Health Colleges following the Higher Education (Amendment) Act
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has concluded a series of meetings with the Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) which were intended to clarify and finalise the transition process of health colleges and institutions to HEA following the Higher Education (Amendment) Act No. 23 of 2021.
The implication of the Amendment Act means that HEA now registers all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) except Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) colleges, and has accreditation oversight over all learning programmes in all HEIs except TEVET programmes.
Therefore, all health colleges and institutions under HPCZ, by Law, will have to move to HEA. Thus, the meetings HEA had with HPCZ, which culminated in a technical workshop held from 1st – 3rd November, 2021, resolved the modalities of the transition in order not to inconvenience the clients nor compromise on the quality during this transitional period.
The resolutions of the meetings, including how the transition will be handled, will be communicated in a joint statement by both institutions on 14th November, 2021.
In giving remarks, HPCZ Registrar, Mr. Bwembya Bwalya, stated that HPCZ was looking forward to working with HEA in ensuring that quality assurance in health training institutions was maintained as this was paramount in health provision.
“We are one government and we are delighted that quality will still be maintained as there is still a body that will look at this quality,” Mr. Bwalya said.
The Amendment Act in Part IVA Section 23A states that despite any other written law, the Authority, shall, in consultation with relevant professional institutions, accredit learning programmes offered in a higher education institution, and, further, in 23D (b), the Amendment Act states that the Authority shall accredit a learning programme of a higher education institution if the curriculum as approved by the professional institution is clearly defined and responds to the demands of the labour market.
HEA and HPCZ had its initial meeting at HPCZ’s new corporate offices in Lusaka with both institutions’ management. This meeting led to a technical committee being constituted to resolve how the transition would proceed.
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