Higher education

18 Nov 2010

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Short description of the higher education system

Zambia has a diverse range of higher education programmes offered by a mix of autonomous, semi-autonomous and government institutions, making the system rather fragmented and uncoordinated. There is no integrated national policy on higher education, resulting in programmes of varying scope, depth and duration.

Public institutions fall under the responsibility the respective ministries, depending on the focus and type of qualified employees required by the particular ministry. Private corporations have set up their own higher education institutions as a source for qualified staff.

Zambia has two public universities: the University of Zambia (since 1965) and Copperbelt University (since 1987). The latter in fact developed from a campus of the University of Zambia.

Admission to universities requires a Zambian School Certificate (ZSC) with passes at credit level in five subjects. The primary and secondary phases of education together last twelve years. Only 29% of all children attend school. Competition to enter university is tough, as only about 5,000 places are available and on average 13,000 high school pupils graduate each year. Applicants without a ZSC can sit an entrance exam for mature students.

The education budget is limited as Zambia has been facing economic difficulties and high inflation rates in the past decades. The language of instruction is English. The academic year runs from October to July.
 

Types of degrees

Non-university level programmes lead to certificates and diplomas for specific subject areas and require two years of study.

Bachelor’s degree programmes are usually four or five years in length, with the exception of medicine, which can last six or seven years. Bachelor’s degrees are awarded with a Distinction, Merit, Credit or Pass classification.

Master’s programmes usually take two years. Exceptions are the master’s degree in law, which takes fifteen months, the master’s in business administration, which takes eighteen months, and the master’s in medicine, which takes four years.

Only a few doctorate programmes are offered. These generally last four years. A very limited quantity of research is conducted, and much of that is carried out as part of development programmes run by external aid organizations. This results in uncoordinated research which is sometimes geared mainly towards the aid organization’s agenda and, when completed, is confined to the sponsor’s archives.
 

Quality assurance and accreditation

The universities have academic freedom and managerial autonomy, permitting them to define their own programmes of instruction, determine and regulate admission requirements, regulate and conduct examinations, confer degrees and control the direction of research.

The quality of non-university institutions falls under the responsibility of the Examinations Council. The Ministry of Education has implemented quality assurance measures, including reviews related to the education sector plan and consequently related to the educational sector only.
 

Recent reforms

There have been calls for a quality assurance system, but none has yet been implemented. Universities are to be allowed to set up their own mechanisms, identify their own performance indicators and conduct their own self-evaluations. The government will also establish a Higher Education Authority (HEA) tasked with quality assurance and related responsibilities. The HEA will further have advisory, planning, financial and administrative functions.

Standards Officers will be responsible for measuring the overall quality of the system in terms of pedagogical delivery (teachers), management (heads and education boards) and assessment (examinations and continuous assessment). Performance benchmarks and evaluation frameworks will be delineated in collaboration with the National Assessment Survey, Examinations Council and Education Board Services in order to establish minimum education standards.

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