The Zambia National Student Unions (ZANASU), an umbrella body for all students unions in Zambia, has called on the Minister of Higher Education, Professor Nkandu Luo, to ensure that her Ministry intensifies inspection of all universities and colleges to ensure competent lecturers are employed and adequate facilities provided for use by our students.
In a statement released to the media in which the students body expressed concerned on the continued impasse in resolving the closure of Lusaka Apex and Cavendish Universities, ZANASU said that it cannot allow institutions of higher learning to employ half-backed lecturers and entrust education of Zambian students into their hands as this has potential to contribute towards grooming of half-backed and less skilled graduates.
Below is the full statement
ZANASU CALLS FOR RESOLUTION OF IMPASSE BETWEEN AUTHORITIES WITH APEX AND CAVENDISH UNIVERSITIES
The Zambia National Student Unions (ZANASU), an umbrella body for all students unions in Zambia, sympathise with students from Lusaka Apex and Cavendish Universities for the inconvenience leading to withdrawal of licenses by the Health Practitioners Council of Zambia and the continued impasse in resolving the issue.
The existing situation is deeply regrettable and calls for timely resolution of the problem so that students are not inconvenienced any further.
We however wish to state that ZANASU cannot allow institutions of higher learning to employ half-backed lecturers and entrust education of Zambian students into their hands. This has potential to contribute towards grooming of half-backed and less skilled graduates.
ZANASU calls on Minister of Higher Education, Professor Nkandu Luo, to ensure her Ministry intensifies inspection of all universities and colleges to ensure competent lecturers are employed and adequate facilities provided for use by our students.
However, where problems arise or are discovered, closing institutions or withdrawing programs must only be an option of last resort. Authorities are encouraged to find ways to ensure adherence or compliance.
ZANASU recognizes that the country is witnessing the mushrooming of many private institutions of higher that have no laboratories and do not offer practical learning or research to its students. The country cannot expect to develop scientists when potential scientists have never seen a test tube or Benson Burner.
We cannot develop good agriculturalists if institutions are not offering hands-on practical and neither can we expect to groom good nutritionists if students of food and nutrition don’t know how a microwave works
As much as most of our private institutions of higher learning institutions are in business, they must put the interest of students first and the education of a nation ahead of the profits by recruiting competent people and providing facilities that enhance learning.
Issued by
Isaac Mwanza
ZANASU Secretary General
Zambian universities, guided by imitation rather than creativity, deploy less than admirable means to achieve success. The most successful manoeuvre, it appears, is increasing the number of research publication in high impact international journals, without an underlying accent on original knowledge creation. How poor all labs and equipments are now just made new labs for first year lab cources)In my first semester in Helmholtz coil experiment even a compass was not functioning properly and all equipments were so old and outdated and we did some experiments in a group of 3 or even 4 because out of 4 only 2 were working. Practicals are done with little innovation or margin for change: Even if the students have some genuine idea for changing the parameter of a particular experiment, it is…
Can Zambia afford competent lecturers?
ZANASU is spot on. We have too many universities in compounds that leave too much to be desired. One even wonders how they are registered
I sympathize with the students because they’re appealing to an equally incompetent minister. There’s nothing that Nkandu can do for them, she’s not straight
This press release by ZANASU is half baked
Dialogue is necessary to strengthen HEIs. Public HEIs are well funded by government. It would be helpful to devise public funding mechanisms for private HEIs. The bias against private HEIs is largely misguided. If private HEIs are all that bad, how come great nations like the USA dominate HEIs rankings? Unlike public sector, private sector can be flexible, innovative and creative. Any form form of condescending, arrogant, intolerant and aggression against private HEIs defeating the essence of academic freedom. Next, an independent QA body for private HEIs can help. Left unchecked, Government bodies can be heavy, sluggish, rigid, self-righteous, holier than Thou or proud.
The most credible private university is UNILUS
higher education is guided by national development aspirations. for instance it is the government to provide guidance on competencies required of Zambian 21st century Health professionals, agriculturalists, engineers and so on. in the absence of such guidance each institution of higher l will carry out the best guess and therefore , do what intellectuals do ; spend time theorizing. Zambia has enough people with experience in nearly all fields required for National Development . All they need is a clear national educational agenda to guide them deliver the required KSA (knowledge, Skills and Attitudes) in Zambian learners. One such approach is academic service learning. I pose a question, are Zambian civil engineering students will to join in at Chinese construction sites to able to relate…
They are qualified but the lack experience and exposure, imagine one get a degree and since jobs sometimes are hard to find goes directly to do a master since they have sponsors, and after finishing lands a job as a lecturer, works for a 6 month goes back for Ph.D., and only starts to publish and research for promotion to Prof. There is only time for self development for goal attainment for self, and you expect them to design new or improve on existing concepts which they only understand on paper.
This call is timely and I think realistic. We have too many incompetent colleges, some of which operate from homes
Call is justified.
To the ZANASU Secretary General: What is a Benson Burner that potential scientists should have seen? What is that? It does not give much confidence that ZANASU itself is in good hands.