MEDIA STATEMENT: Director-General Abhors Private Higher Education System of Cheerleaders for Anarchy, Recklessness, Chaos, Lawlessness and Disorder
The Director-General of the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Professor Kazhila C. Chinsembu, held a media briefing on the Higher Education (General) Regulations, 2024, Monday, 11th November, 2024, at the Authority’s Corporate Headquarters in Lusaka.
During the media briefing, Professor Chinsembu issued a statement on the Regulations that have been issued to operationalise the Higher Education (Amendment) Act, 2024. The Regulations took effect on 29th August, 2024.
Below is the statement in full.
STATEMENT BY PROFESSOR KAZHILA C. CHINSEMBU, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION AUTHORITY (HEA), READ AT THE MEDIA BRIEFING TO UNVEIL THE NEW HIGHER EDUCATION REGULATIONS FOR 2024, MEDIA BRIEFING HELD AT THE HEA OFFICES, LUSAKA, ON MONDAY 11TH NOVEMBER, 2024.
Issued By Professor Kazhila C. Chinsembu
Director-General
Higher Education Authority (HEA)
Government through the eighth national development plan (8NDP) has recognised the important role that the private sector plays in the provision of higher education. While private sector participation in higher education has many strengths, it also has many weaknesses.
Recall that the private sector is driven by profit. The motivation for profit does not care about national interest. We cannot entirely leave the provision of higher education to the whims of the private sector.
As much as it presents beautiful prospects, the role of the private sector in our higher education space remains a daunting reality. In relation to higher education, private sector driven markets and competition are as important as public sector driven regulations and coordination.
Over the past decade, an era characterised by the mushrooming of corner-shop universities, regulation of higher education institutions was very weak.
Our nation will pay a heavy price if we fail to rethink and revise the permissible parameters in which the private sector should provide university education.
In many countries that we have benchmarked, public education focusses on STEM, while the private sector provides training in non-STEM fields of study. We are therefore very worried about the high numbers of private universities providing programmes in medicine and surgery.
Of course, Harvard is a private university. But in hindsight, it is clear that we still need to deconstruct the notion and redefine the role of the private university in Zambia.
Registration of new private higher education institutions is at crossroads, it has reached a critical juncture. Our sympathy to the private university is being re-evaluated in the context of quality.
We must all understand that the provision of higher education by the private sector is important, it is supported by government policy, but it also presents opportunities as well as threats, and it has far-reaching implications and consequences. We are caught between a rock and a hard place.
The approved regulations that we shall present today will show that the margin of acceptance for registration of new private universities is becoming narrower and narrower. The path to the registration of new private universities is narrow.
Note that the new regulations do not only target private higher education institutions, because we are also keeping an eagle eye on all the public universities and colleges. We shall this month be conducting institutional and academic audits at CBU. and next month, we shall be at UNZA.
We are concerned about the relevance of some of the donor-driven PhD programmes in our public universities. We think the sandwich PhD model is appropriate for our country.
Nobody wants to be regulated. But if you want to be a role player in the higher education industry, we shall regulate you with every detail and letter of the law. We are a government of laws, and not of men.
The mushrooming of private colleges and universities that has now marred our system of higher education is a direct consequence of our lack of respect for law and order.
Our private higher education system is where it is because we have been cheerleaders for anarchy, recklessness, chaos, lawlessness and disorder. It is important that we respect regulations that govern higher education.
Higher education is the torchbearer, it is the agency that should be at the forefront of our campaign for national progress, it is that which should inspire and lead our crusade for national development. Our nation shall not develop if we compromise on the quality of our higher education.
We have noted that some faith-based and youth-based institutions of higher learning are abrogating the law by enrolling students that do not meet the minimum entry requirements. These institutions will be deregistered. You cannot claim to provide opportunities to the youth by breaking the law, by evading the Higher Education Act, by making the youth cheat their way into college.
Fraudulent admission of students into college shall be met with the full force of the Higher Education Act and its subsidiary regulations.
We should not politicize higher education. Higher education will not yield economic dividends if we lionize lawlessness and mediocrity in the execution of the national higher education policy.
If our system of higher education is not yet an accident about to happen, then non-adherence to the Higher Education Act will push our entire system of university education to the precipice of disaster.
A university is not a shopping mall, it is not a bazaar for degrees. We get worried when degrees of some of our universities are easily obtained.
The nation is questioning the competencies and proficiencies of our graduates. Public outcry over the quality of many of our graduates has reached a deafening crescendo.
In many respects, graduate incompetence – driven by weak regulation—is one of the root causes of graduate unemployability. Graduate incompetence is contagious, it is a communicable disease which blights the reputation of our universities.
We are flabbergasted and disgusted by some universities that dubiously, recklessly and unethically pass students using the 50+1 moderation method.
As HEA, it is within our mandate to provide the turning point, it is our mandate to tighten the screws of regulation. We have now put the entire system of higher education under the microscope.
University authorities must uphold the integrity of the examination process. No university senate or school board, not even a committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor, shall award marks to students that have clearly flunked their examinations.
Corruption of the examination system must stop. Corruption of professorial promotion must be arrested. Professorship is not given on compassionate grounds.
We urge the clergy to desist from the temptation of dishonestly assuming and misappropriating to themselves the revered academic titles of Doctor and Professor. You are the Pastor or Bishop of the church, but how will you enter heaven when you stole the academic title of Doctor or Professor?
We love our cultural heritage, so let me say this, on a lighter note. With all due respect to our royal highnesses, we have been taken aback by our respected chiefs that wear doctoral graduation gowns and regalia.
ON NEW PRESCRIBED FEES
The Higher Education Act 2013, part II, Section 6(3), (a) and (b) allows the Higher Education Authority to:
- Determine and levy fees that the authority considers necessary to finance its activities under the Higher Education Act; and
- To also determine what portion of any fee is payable in respect of any part of a year and the date on which the fee or portion thereof is payable.
Following the approval of the Higher Education (General) Regulation 2024 by Cabinet and its publication under Statutory Instrument (S.I.) No. 51 of 2024 in Zambia government Gazette Supplement notice day Friday 30th August, 2024.
The S.I. came into effect upon its publication pursuant to Section 52 of the Higher Education Act No. 4 of 2013 and subsequently the new fees were operationalized.
The new regulations bring a lot of benefits to our HEIs and stakeholders among the following:
- The Authority will be able to finance more quality assurance activities such as annual institutional audits of all HEIs, monitor affiliations among HEIs and maintain a data base of all students studying in all HEIs
- The Authority will be able to finance more external experts together with HEA staff to under undertake registration and physical site visits and this will in turn build capacity in our registration processes.
- HEA will be able to fund sufficient numbers of experts to undertake the accreditation process of learning programmes and this will in turn reduce delays in providing evaluation results.
- HEA will be able to fund regular learning programme audits and this will deter HEIs from employing unqualified Lecturers.
- Ultimately, the implementation of these regulations will lead to improved quality of higher education in Zambia, enhanced human capital development and will lead to accelerated national development in the country.
The new structure fee table is below:
| TYPE OF FEE | TYPE OF HEI /CATEGORY | HEA NEW FEES | |
| Local | Foreign | ||
| Application for Registration/ Reregistration of a private higher education institution | College | K 41,000.00 | K 152,000.00 |
| University College/Technical University College | K 51,000.00 | ||
| University/Technical University | K 101,000.00 | ||
| Institution for Specialised Training of Professionals in a Specified Field. | K 51,000.00 | ||
| Institute | K 51,000.00 | ||
| Learning Programme Accreditation/Re accreditation Fees | Certificate | K 5,000.00 | K 10,000.00 |
| Diploma | K 10,000.00 | K 20,000.00 | |
| Degree | K 20,000.00 | K 40,000.00 | |
| Postgraduate Diploma/Honours Degree | K 25,000.00 | K 50,000.00 | |
| Master’s | K 35,000.00 | K 70,000.00 | |
| PhD | K 50,000.00 | K 100,000.00 | |
| Professional Training Programmes | K 35,000.00 | K 70,000.00 | |
| Variation of Learning Programme Fee | Certificate | K 5,000.00 | |
| Diploma | K 5,000.00 | ||
| Degree | K 10,000.00 | ||
| Postgraduate Diploma/Honours Degree | K 10,000.00 | ||
| Master’s | K 10,000.00 | ||
| PhD | K 10,000.00 | ||
| Annual Levy (Per Registered Student) | K 75.00 | K 100.00 | |
| Annual Institutional Audit Fee | College | K 20,000.00 | K 50,000.00 |
| University College/Technical University College | K 25,000.00 | K 50,000.00 | |
| University/Technical University | K 35,000.00 | K 60,000.00 | |
| Institution for Specialised Training of Professionals in a Specified Field. | K 25,000.00 | K 50,000.00 | |
| Institute | K 25,000.00 | K 50,000.00 | |
| Affiliation Fee | K 50,000.00 | ||
| Duplicate Certificate | K 5,000.00 | ||
| Record Search Fees | K 5,000.00 | ||
ON REGISTRATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Introduction
Following the enactment of Statutory Instrument No. 51 of 2024, the Higher Education Authority is pleased to announce updates to the registration and audit processes for higher education institutions (HEIs) in Zambia. The key updates are outlined below.
Application for Registration of College, University College, and Technical University College as Private Higher Education Institutions
Under SI No. 51 of 2024, any person or organisation intending to establish a college, university college, or technical university college as a private HEI is now required to apply for registration using a standardised application form (Form I), found in the First Schedule of the SI. Previously, there was no prescribed form for such applications, and this new measure will streamline the registration process.
Application for Registration of University or Technical University
In accordance with the Higher Education (Amendment) Act No. 23 of 2021, operationalised by SI No. 51 of 2024, initial registration will no longer be granted to universities. Only colleges and university colleges will be registered at the outset. Universities or technical universities can now apply for registration only after operating as a higher education institution for a minimum of five years and meeting the prescribed standards outlined in the Zambia Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance.
Annual Institutional Audits
SI No. 51 of 2024 mandates that all HEIs undergo an annual institutional audit as stipulated by the Higher Education (Amendment) Act No. 23 of 2021. The Authority will issue an audit notice to HEIs within the first month of each year’s first quarter and HEI are expected to conduct self-assessments by 31st March each year and submit self-assessment reports to the Authority on or before 31st March of each year. An annual institutional audit fee, as indicated by the acting manager-finance, will apply.
Application for Re-registration
SI No. 51 of 2024 also establishes guidelines for the re-registration of de-registered HEIs. Institutions that have been de-registered may reapply for registration two years after the date of de-registration, using the application forms specified for their institution type.
The Higher Education Authority remains committed to upholding quality standards in higher education and ensuring that HEIs provide students with quality education and training. For further information on the new registration and audit requirements, please visit the HEA website (www.hea.org.zm).
ON HIGHER EDUCATION (GENERAL) REGULATIONS, 2024 PART III: ACCREDITATION OF LEARNING PROGRAMMES
The Regulations have provided for the accreditation of learning programmes in all the types (categories) of Higher Education Institutions with an exception of an institute- created for solely conducting research.
The Regulations have also provided guidance on the accreditation of training programmes developed by professional bodies to be offered by Higher Education Institutions. Professional bodies have been exempted from providing specific information on the teaching staff and actual facilities among others. however, they will be required to provide guidance on who is eligible to teach on the training programme and what sought of facilities best suit the delivery of such a training programme.
The need for input from a relevant professional body has been emphasised. therefore, professional bodies will play an approving/recommendation role in the accreditation process such as approval of the curriculum before the applicant submits the learning programme for accreditation
Once the accreditation process is complete, the authority is expected to provide feedback to the would-be applicant regardless of the outcome i.e. accepted/rejected as per the forms set out in the first schedule
Certificate of accreditation validity period has been prescribed depending on the duration of the learning programme for instance a certificate of accreditation shall be valid for a period of six years where the duration of the learning programme is four to five years in order to allow the higher education institution to engage relevant stakeholders in the curriculum review process once a cohort of students has graduated.
Further, the regulations have included the renewal of accreditation once the accreditation certificate expires, the HEI will be expected to apply for renewal of accreditation following the exact criteria as that for the accreditation of a learning programme.
Application for variation of an accredited learning programme can only be considered when a learning programme has been offered by a higher education institution for at least one academic year before the variation, it does not result in the change of more than twenty-five percent of the core courses or modules, core course has been replaced, a new course has been introduced and when there is change in the nomenclature of the learning programme.
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Note: The Media Statement was released on 11th November, 2024
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