“Toe the Line” – HEA to HPCZ
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has clarified that the Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) needs to toe the line as the Authority has the overall legal mandate to regulate learning programmes in the higher education subsector.
This was stated by HEA Director-General, Professor Kazhila C. Chinsembu, when he was responding to a question from University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers Union (UNZALARU). The Authority had invited UNZALARU to a meeting on Friday, 17th May, 2024, in HEA’s Boardroom in an effort to change the culture of looking at the Union as an adversary.
During the meeting, UNZALARU was seeking clarity between the roles of HEA and HPCZ in the regulation of health learning programmes in higher education as the Union found it difficult to know which regulatory body was in charge.
“The bottom line is that the Higher Education Authority has the overall, legal mandate to regulate even those (learning) programmes that fall under the Health Professions Council of Zambia,” Professor Chinsembu said, adding, “So from my office, the only remark that I have made officially is that the Health Professions Council of Zambia should toe the line.”
However, the Director-General clarified that he did not want to create conflict and bottlenecks between HEA and HPCZ because it is not good for one government institution to start attacking another government institution.
Professor Chinsembu further clarified that working with HPCZ was of paramount importance to HEA. He continued by stating that this collaboration was mandated by the Higher Education (Amendment) Act, 2021. He noted that there was a draft MoU which was developed by both institutions which, when signed, would operationalise the working relationship with HPCZ.
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