Issued by Mr. Birbal Boniface Musoba
Corporate Communications Officer
Higher Education Authority

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) would like to clarify some concerns regarding Zambian Royal Medical University, a private Higher Education Institution (HEI) of Registration No.: HEA/089:

1. HEA inspected Zambian Royal Medical University and found deficiencies at the private university which the Authority directed the university to address by 31^st March, 2024.  
2. The deficiencies were found in the following areas:
   • Governance;
   • Teaching and learning spaces;
   • Unqualified lecturers;
   • Unregistered extended campus;
   • Erractic delivery of lessons; and
   • Overcrowding in learning spaces.
3. In accordance with the provisions of the Higher Education Act No. 4 of 2013, HEA directed the university to submit an improvement plan which would highlight how the HEI intended to address the highlighted deficiencies by 31^st March, 2024.
4. Zambian Royal Medical University complied and submitted the improvement plan. This led to HEA granting the university three (3) extra months to implement the improvement plan.
5. Therefore, HEA will conduct an inspection of Zambian Royal Medical University on 12^th June, 2024, to verify the status of implementation of the improvement plan. During the inspection HEA will investigate all allegations including public concerns circulating in the media about the university.
6. The Higher Education Act No. 4 of 2013, provides specific sanctions for contravention of its provisions and noncompliance to the Act which include deregistration of a private HEI.

The Authority assures the public that it is fulfilling its mandate of “Ensuring Quality in Higher Education.” Therefore, the public should have a sense of comfort knowing that all HEIs are being closely monitored by the Authority to ensure strict adherence to set quality standards, with no compromises.

Watch video of press release here

Downloads

1. PDF of Press Release: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lDjB1i3wKolIlvEWswfFu1iV5Iqx8fx9/view?usp=sharing
2. Audio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OMo5y2W7EF_4oAdSZf7VsLx4U-w0soDC/view?usp=sharing
3. Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19LTV578T4NZgPgv6fKNaB2d3SswRxFei/view?usp=sharing

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Furthermore, the Higher Education Institution (HEI) well has also been directed to ensure that its new campus gets legally registered by 31^st March, 2024.

Following an inspection of the HEI which was prompted by complaints from students regarding the use of unqualified lecturers, erratic delivery of lessons and overcrowding in learning spaces, HEA advised the university to address it’s in the areas of governance, teaching and learning spaces, and quality of lecturers.

In this vein, the HEI was directed to furnish the Authority with an improvement plan on how it will work towards addressing these deficiencies. Thereafter, HEA would undertake an institutional audit of the university to ensure that the highlighted areas of concern would have been addressed by 31^st March, 2024.

HEA will continue listening and responding to every complaint that it receives, and actioning all complaints that warrant actioning by our Inspectorate.

In the first 6 months of 2023, 29 queries were received about 15 registered HEIs, and 59 queries were received for learning programmes offered at 19 specific HEIs.

HEA places a high premium on its communication and interactions with its clients, stakeholders and the general public. Therefore, if you have a complaint or query, you can contact us through our website’s chat system at www.hea.org.zm or emailing info@hea.org.zm, or calling +260 211 227 084.

Furthermore, you can also reach us through our social media platform using the handle @HEAZambia on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

The Authority continues to remind its clients, stakeholders and the general public that all correspondence with HEA is confidential and any information that is provided is privileged. Thus, the Authority cannot reveal your name unless you so wish.