“Zambia’s New Poverty is not Money, it’s Mismatched Education” – Professor Chinsembu

HEA — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 09:24:47 +0000

Higher Education Authority (HEA) Director-General, Professor Kazhila C. Chinsembu, has declared that poverty in Zambia is no longer defined by the lack of income, but by the absence of the correct type of higher education.

Professor Chinsembu said this during his Keynote Address delivered on Thursday, 4^th December, 2025, on the final day of the 2^nd National Research and Innovation Symposium, which is being hosted at Garden Court Hotel in Kitwe by the Copperbelt University (CBU), in partnership with the Ministry of Education, from 2^nd to 5^th December 2025.

Professor Chinsembu noted that it was because of this important aspect of higher education that His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, this year directed that education, and higher education in particular, should be classified as an economic sector.

“The starting point is higher education,” he said. “Higher education is the strategic lever that can catapult and sustain Zambia’s competitiveness in the global economy. Therefore, when we debate its flaws, we must not lose sight of this truth: nothing else performs this role at scale.”

The Director-General stated that for this to be achieved, higher education needed to be deconstructed and reconstructed.

“If we are to transform the economy, we must first destroy the old system of higher education and build a completely new system,” he said, explaining that higher education is the best economic policy that can allow students to convert knowledge into goods and services in order to reduce poverty.

Professor Chinsembu further explained that transforming higher education required a complete overhaul and re-envisioning of the sub-sector, and that such transformation should not shy away from causing epistemological ruptures and jettisoning archaic or irrelevant curricula.

“Transformation must have a strategic intent,” he said. “It cannot be a random, aimless transformation. Unless we develop a high-risk appetite, transformation of higher education will not be successful. It will not even begin. Therefore, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) must place teaching, learning, and research in the national context.”

Professor Chinsembu’s Keynote Address, titled ‘The Best Economic Policy Is Higher Education: Transforming Higher Education to Transform the Economy’, emphasised the singular positive contribution that higher education can provide.

“Universities are the engines that power medical breakthroughs, create technological innovation, and produce intellectual leadership,” he said, adding, “The economy of knowledge versus the economy of goods and services, that is, intellectual property versus movable and immovable property, has one goal: to convert knowledge into goods and services.”

The Director-General, however, lamented that despite this being the goal, the story of higher education in Zambia has been one of diminishing returns. He noted that many university campuses have been turned into exclusive spaces where staff and students pursue a culture of comfort and pomposity, fuelled by academic arrogance.

Professor Chinsembu warned that higher education must be transformed with renewed commitment to quality, relevance, and accountability, as the country’s development ambitions would remain out of reach unless universities strengthened academic standards and produced graduates who were assets and not liabilities to the economy. He noted that this depended on the presence of a critical mass of skilled professionals who constitute the academic staff.

“In 1997, the Bobby Bwalya Commission of Inquiry noted that without significant attention to the retention, motivation, and commitment of this critical mass in the university, the problem of quality in the core functions of the university is bound to persist,” he said.

The Director-General further added that quality graduates could only come from institutions where lecturers are supported, valued, and equipped to deliver.

The Guest of Honour at the Symposium was the Honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Douglas Munsaka Syakalima, MP, who was represented by the Director – University Education, Mr. Brian Makufele.

Download and read Professor Chinsembu’s Keynote Address here: https://hea.org.zm/download/the-best-economic-policy-is-higher-education/?wpdmdl=10320&refresh=69317c45c7f611764850757

#HigherEducationZambia #HEAZambia

Professor Chinsembu during his presentation at the 2nd National Research and Innovation Symposium at Garden Court in Kitwe.
Professor Chinsembu
Prof. Frank Tailoka (Front L), Vice-Chancellor Mukuba University, and Professor Imasiku Nyambe, Vice-Chancellor CBU, listen to Professor Chinsembu’s address.
(Front Row L-R): Mr. Brian Makufele (L), Director – University Education in the Ministry of Education and representing the Guest of Honour, the Honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Douglas Munsaka Syakalima, MP.; Prof. Paul Chisale, CBU Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Academics.

————————————————————

Stay informed. Stay connected. Stay empowered.

Take the National Graduate Survey! https://hea.org.zm/nationalgraduatesurvey/

#NGS2025 #NationalGraduateSurvey

Read all HEA News here: https://hea.org.zm/hea-news/

Join the HEA WhatsApp Channel here:

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VasVJip7oQhXnhbaOB2I

Follow the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube (@HEAZambia) and join the conversation using #HEAZambia #HigherEducationZambia.

Visit www.hea.org.zm for all higher education updates in Zambia. Higher Education Authority (HEA) │ 2^nd Floor, Engineering House │ Stand No. 2374, Kelvin Siwale Road │ P.O. Box 50795, Ridgeway, Lusaka │ +260 211 227 084 │ info@hea.org.zm │ www.hea.org.zm

Professor Chinsembu vs. Grevazio Zulu: Are Our Universities Living Up to Their Name?

HEA — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 06:51:24 +0000

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is calling on the public to tune in to one of the most anticipated conversations in Zambia’s higher education landscape. In this week’s edition of Sunday Interview, host Mr. Grevazio Zulu puts tough questions to HEA Director-General, Professor Kazhila C. Chinsembu, in a compelling and uncompromising discussion on the future of Zambia’s universities.

Appearing on Sunday, 23^rd November, 2025, at 20:00hrs, Professor Chinsembu emphasises that universities are the citadels of knowledge, prompting Mr. Zulu to challenge the claim head-on by asking that if universities were the citadel of knowledge, then why are they facing so many problems, and why are they not solving them.

This fiery exchange sets the tone for a wide-ranging, thought-provoking interview that explores HEA’s accountability mechanisms for Higher Education Institution (HEI); the successes of the inaugural Higher Education Indaba; the rollout and purpose of the National Graduate Survey; and, the quality, relevance, and future of Zambia’s higher education sector, among other topics.

This is not just an interview but a national conversation on the direction, integrity, and performance of Zambia’s universities.

Tune in on ZNBC TV1 and on Facebook via ZNBC Today this Sunday at 20:00hrs.