By Field Ruwe EdD
UNZA Investment and the Mineral Resource Curse
The United Kingdom Home Office has excluded University of Zambia graduates from the High Potential Individuals (HPI) visa due to the perceived inferiority of their degrees. The HPI visa is designed to attract “highly skilled graduates” from international universities outside of the UK to contribute to a range of sectors, such as science and technology. According to the UK-NARIC [National Academic Recognition Information Centre] comparability, UNZA bachelor’s degree in humanities is equivalent to the British two-year Higher National Diploma, and bachelor’s degrees in medicine, engineering, and law are comparable to the three-year British Bachelor (Ordinary) Degree standard.
Apparently, the South African-NARIC keeps yielding a similar result. In 2020, a social media posted by Dr. Sam Phiri titled “South African University ‘Junks’ UNZA Degrees” infuriated many students and alumni of the university. At the heart of the story was a letter by the University of Cape Town (UCT) Humanities Postgraduate Administrative Officer Kerewin Parfitt to a Zambian Bachelor’s degree graduate applicant. It read as follows:
“Dear…Thank you for your application to study at the University of Cape Town in 2021. We conducted a NARIC [National Academic Recognition Information Centre] equivalency check on your degree from Zambia. The NARIC check indicated that your degree is equivalent to a Diploma of Higher Education in South Africa and, therefore, inadequate for entrance into the Master’s program.”
The illusion of academic pride quickly masked the reality when most UNZA students and alums took deep offense and resorted to social media to insinuate the applicant was a product of not UNZA but one of the local “inferior” private universities. Although the letter did not spark a national discourse about the quality of tertiary education in Zambia, it highlighted the pervasive discernible bane that has kept UNZA at the totem pole of global university rankings.
What the NARIC check means is that Zambia’s citadel and cauldron of intellectualism, an institution created to enhance intellectual sovereignty and foster the development of Zambia’s human capital, is a miscarriage of vocation. If indeed this is the case, then it explains why Zambian political scientists, economists, metallurgists, and pedagogues have contributed negligibly to the socio-economic growth of Zambia. Above all, it explains why Zambia has failed to embark on a paradigm shift that lifts the mineral resource curse.
Understanding Mineral Resource Curse
Coined by economist Richard Auty of Lancaster University, the term “resource curse,” also known as the “paradox of plenty,” or “poverty paradox,” describes a scenario in which a country abundant in natural resources encounters persistent issues of economic stagnation and political turmoil due to foreign exploitation. Renaissance thinkers such as Bodin and Machiavelli posited that nations with abundant resources tended to have citizens prone to lack of intellectual sight and indolence.
In Zambia, it is evident the curse is prominently manifested through the copper mining sector, which, being the bedrock of the economy, has been unsuccessful in establishing enduring welfare systems, infrastructure, and economic growth. Despite President Kaunda ensuring national control by nationalizing 51% of the equity shares in the copper industry on August 1, 1969, the aftermath has witnessed an upsurge in corrupt practices and the plunder of mineral resources by foreign investors.
Cecil John Rhodes and Zambia’s Mineral Resource Curse
Early this month ZCCM sold a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines to Delta Mining Limited, retaining the remainder, and creating the potential for substantial kickbacks. Furthermore, the recent discovery via Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the largest copper deposit in Zambia by KoBold, a company backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, evoked the ghost of Cecil John Rhodes.
Rhodes’s conquest of Zambesia led to the discovery of large copper deposits in the land he named Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). In 1890, Rhodes’s British South African Company (BSA) acquired mining rights from King Lewanika of the Lozi people without him fully comprehending the implications of the agreement. Henceforth, Zambia fell victim to the mineral resource curse.
Rhodes, deeply entrenched in the ideology of white supremacy, understood education investment to be a crucial component of the mineral resource curse. Having received his education at Oriel College, Oxford, he was aware that the convergence of political ideology and academic thought served to strengthen one another.
In 1891, he proposed a university system that fostered unity between the British and Boers, and enacted measures that denied the indigenous natives access to intellectual sovereignty essential for managing their own assets and attaining global recognition. To this he affirmed, “the native is to be treated as a child and denied the franchise.”
Kenneth Kaunda’s Dilemma
Rhodes’s discriminatory measures effectively marginalized a vast majority of the indigenous population, branding them as uncivilized. Throughout the British colonial era, the number of educated natives remained significantly low. By 1960, Northern Rhodesia could only boast eight indigenous individuals who had completed their education, a number that grew to 100 at independence time.
Consequently, Kaunda faced a challenge in developing a political ideology that embodied intellectual sovereignty due to the dearth of highly skilled graduates. Natives lacked self-efficacy—the ability to exert control over their own motivation, behavior, and social environment. The indigenous population was deficient in self-efficacy, which refers to the capacity to regulate own drive, actions, and surroundings. Understanding the significance of education in mitigating the negative effects of the mineral resource curse, Kaunda proactively spearheaded the building of the University of Zambia, which opened its doors on March 17, 1966.
Half-baked Graduates
The first graduates of the university encountered notable obstacles in addressing the natural resource curse, despite dedicated attempts to implement impactful measures and assist the government in forming robust institutions. This inadequacy holds true to this day. According to the 2019 publication titled “Creating Decent Jobs: Strategies, Policies, and Instruments” by the African Development Bank, the University of Zambia still produces too many undergraduate degrees that do not equip students with the essential proficiency required in the 21st century labor market.
Professor Emmanuel Ngara of the African Association of Universities concurs and adds; “Many African tertiary institutions produce half-baked graduates that aren’t fit for the world of work mainly because of the way they are taught and the absence of curricular reviews that should respond to the calls of industry’s contemporary needs.”
UNZA graduates and students may be fervently eager to criticize Professor Ngara’s remarks and cast doubt on the UK and South African NARIC results. Before you do that, bear in mind the wide gap that exists in the world university rankings between Oxford University (1), the University of Cape Town (167), and the University of Zambia (1,578). Whenever such rankings are made public, Zambian graduates are left feeling undervalued in their professional pursuits, while students become demoralized in their academic endeavors.
Moreover, the decline in rankings undermines the fundamental aspects of analytical thinking, finding solutions to problems, and fostering inventive abilities, which are essential for Zambian graduates to effectively address the obstacles presented by the mineral resource curse. Ultimately, such rankings inadvertently provide UCT and the UK Home Office with a rationale to exclude Zambians from the pool of highly skilled graduates.
The Ball is in Hichilema’s Court
The overarching question is; Can the University of Zambia execute a dramatic turnaround and meet the demands of a world class university? Undoubtedly, such a feat is feasible, only if UNZA emulates the University of Ghana and the University of Dar es Salaam who have integrated extensive World-Class University (WCU) goals into their mission declarations and are determined to deliver world-class academic standards. President Hichilema, revered by UNZA students for providing complimentary meals and promoting access to basic education, possesses the capability to introduce a novel and creative perspective to the university, placing a strong focus on intellectual sovereignty.
Hichilema, in collaboration with the Chancellor, should embark on establishing a superior higher education system. This system must encompass three essential elements that are generally observed in top-tier universities worldwide: (1) a notable assemblage of skilled instructors and learners, (2) ample financial means, and (3) a clearly defined strategic vision supported by capable leadership. To achieve this goal, it is crucial for the Chancellor to establish the Office of Strategic and Academic Quality (OSAQ) with the primary objective of enhancing academic excellence.
It is also imperative for the Chancellor to investigate strategies that can incentivize a greater number of undergraduate students to engage in research-based programs at the postgraduate and postdoctoral stages. OSAQ should reward such students with fully funded internships at prestigious institutions in the United States and Europe, to enable them to enhance their professional expertise.
There is no doubt that embarking on this project will have financial implications. The creation of a world class university requires a significant amount of money. Luckily, Hichilema is well-known for his ability to secure financial resources. Hakainde and his administration must establish reserve funds to boost investments in the university and foster social capital to back this effort.
Otherwise, Zambia’s potential to break the mineral resource curse and actively participate in the free flow of 21st century ideas across different fields, including the economy, and politics, as well as its reputation in disseminating and advancing accumulated knowledge and research findings, will be mediocre at most and its degrees desecrated at worst.
The rights to this article belong to ZDI (Zambia Development Institute), a proposed US-based Zambian think tank. On May 19, 2022, a comprehensive proposal was delivered to President Hichilema through Principal Private Secretary Bradford Machila. Author, Dr. Field Ruwe holds a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership. He is affiliated with Northeastern University, Boston, MA. US. Email: [email protected].
Thats how they perceive us as inferior human beings….i don’t blame them…we have tons of wealth within our borders but we choose to go and begg…and thats the reason they think we are dunderheads and inferior…we can’t use our own brains to make money…let the Muzungu make money for us
South Africa UNZA graduates are running the Gold mines and Platnum mines. In Australia you Zambian Graduates in the Austrlain Mines. U will find them in Botswana and Canada as well. UNZA has trained Engineers, Metarllugists, Geologists, Chemists , Surveyors who have left the country. Mines in Zambia are now run by foreigners….At Barrick, at FQM and at KCM. They will rather bring their own “ill” matric holders and pay them more than a well qualified Zambian.
HAKAINDE TASK IS TO BRING BACK ZAMBIAN ENGINEERS WHO ARE ALL OVER THE WORLD RUNNING MINES.
HE JUST NEEDS TO PAY THEM WELL……THEY WILL BE HERE. THEY ARE THERE IN PANAMA, SOUTH AFRICA, BOTSWANA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, CONGO AND MANY MORE NOW IN SAUDI ARABIA.
THE PROBLEM IS WE WANT TO PAY FOREIGNERS MORE THAN OUR OWN QUALIFIED ZAMBIANS.
If people knew how university rankings are done, they wouldn’t even bother. Let’s borrow from the ranking of football leagues in the world. Portugal has never won the football World Cup but that has not stopped the country producing a Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s really about the general tendency or trend. One or two outliers does not disprove the general tendency. The British themselves always rank their top universities above German ones. The Germans are not bothered by that. For example, when the German carmaker BMW took over the British car company Rover in the late 1990s, the Germans were appalled by the low technical standards of the factory.
@Anonymous, No they don’t perceive you as inferior human beings. That’s an extreme mis-charactrization. What we consider inferior is your degrees from the main university in Zambia. Some of us have know about this for the longest.
@Moono Some of us have been raising these issues from the 80s. Noone listens. What I have learnt is that the last people you would expect to listen are the politicians because they are in those offices temporarily and sadly, for what they can steal. The educational system in Zambia needs thorough examination and then a revamp
@Moono:
Most of the time I agree with you but I dont agree with your argument that Africans arent perceived as inferior by Western citizens. Just go and read the unclassified US Presidential documents and see the conversation between Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon about Africans. They refer to us as Monkeys-and these are supposed to be World leaders-at the time prevailing over apartheid South Africa. You wonder why the ANC were classified as terrorists? They were black people fighting white people.
Moono and Fresher: You are talking rubbish. The reason is that you are probably not UNZA graduates, and more importantly, have never studied in a foreign university. You the fools who think it is true because a white man says it. The students who go from UNZA do well in all the foreign universities they go to. All the professors at UNZA got their BAs at UNZA and the MA and PhDs in the foreign universities ranked by these same foreigners as the best. Those of us who obtained graduate degrees in foreign universities know this. There many people who could not make it to UNZA who went to USA and got MBA from their top universities. This rubbish here is to convince people who know nothing that we Zambians are wasting our time. We need to multiply our universities by 3 to 192
The assessments are correct; anyone who has studied abroad can attest. In teacher’s colleges, they take a whole year to teach a three credit course. Everything is slow- between endless funerals and lecturer laziness, you lose so much. It takes the century to mark assignments.
It’s well a known fact that their levels and quality of education are much higher than our own however It’s no hidden truth that UNZA students have created this percepitation themselves due to the intolerable vices they indulge in, malpractice etc causing other institutions to be negatively precised like wise the solution is simple let the students at UNZA go into class, learn,study and sit for the exams and the results will I’m turn speak for themselves which will lead to results changing this narrative.
The curriculum at UNZA was established according to them. All the UNZA students who have ever gone to their universities have obtained their masters and PhD. All the professors at UNZA got theirs PhDs from the UK. They were in the same classes as English students were. What you are hearing from these asshols is envy. When they left our country, were 99.7%. Out of 3 million Zambians, there were only 10 000 grade 7s. There were also a few form 2s, and about 100 graduates of that university for black people, FT Hare, none of whom were engineers, doctors or lawyers. Kaunda then created secondary schools in every district. Kaunda created UNZA, which was built by Israelis. The curriculum was obtained from English universities. …to be continued
All in all this is a proposal for a significant increase in university funding. An increase in budget allocation.
No! The English did not create our education system. We did. Fack them. They left us 99.7% illiterate. They know that we are rapidly approaching a critical mass of trained manpower, and at the point, we shall able to run our own industries. This is why they want to stop us. Do not listen to the asshols. Let us redouble our current efforts and triple the number of Masters and PhDs we award. This is exactly how South Korea, China, Singapore and even India surpassed those useless mothafakas. Do not listen to anything the English have to say. In fact, we need to change our official language to Swahili, now that they are charging us money to prove that we know how to speak English, if we want to go their country. It is time to fight these bastads.
Not when you are a broke country
Zambia now has 66 universities, meaning that we have been building universities at the rate of more than 1 every year. The English who tried to keep us illiterate are envious and afraid. What our education is doing is to make us independent of them. What we need to do is to retaliate directly. If any country refuses to recognise our degrees, we refuse to recognise theirs. The UK is nothing in education. The UK produces nothing in science. What we need to do is to partner with China and Russia and send our stundents there. Declare all education from UK going forward as unrecognised in Zambia. China is opening a university every week, and it is offering free education to foreign students. In addition to this, charge visa fees to an English person who comes Zambia.
You could be right
Suspect there’s an underlying scheme to decelerate the efforts and advances made especially in view of the latest evolutions in mining industries and technology
Zambians do not need South African universities. What we need to do is to not recognise South African degrees. We would lose absolutely nothing by doing this. South Africa is even less than the nothing UK in higher education. They have our doctors in their hospitals, they have our professors in their universities. If they are going to insult us, teach them a lesson. We do not need South Africa. They suck money out of our country, and sell us substandard wares which we could get from China free of charge. Stop sending our copper to through their ports and use Dar Es Salaam. They say our education is substandard; I ask anyone to listen to the level of discourse in the parliament of Zambia and compare it with that of South Africa, and you will be shocked .
There are 26 000 Zambians in the UK which has 65 million people. The Zambians in the UK own nothing. There are more that 40 000 English men among the 21 million Zambians, all residing on illicitly stolen land. These people have committed heinous crimes against Zambia, such as when they killed 1000 people with napalm bombs at Chikumbi in 1989. We need to start showing these useless parasites the door. We need to complete what Mugabe started by kicking them out of our country. They contribute nothing, loot our precious stones, grow flowers for export and deposit the money they earn in English bank accounts. These people are all uneducated and they are probably the main people who demanded that the English discredit our education
@I hate Kaizar Zulu
On 20th October, 1978, Rhodesian force mainly the Rhodesian Special Air Forces and the Rhodesia Light Infantry (RLI) made its deepest and most dramatic strike into neighboring Zambia, sending its aircraft 80 miles across the border to bomb in Chikumbi what it described as a black nationalist guerrilla camp just 19 kilometres north of Lusaka.
Thus, your statement that Chikumbi was bombed in 1989 is highly misleading (No pun intended of course)
The important question we must interrogate is, “Is it working for us? Or is the human resource we’re training able to fit into our industry and perform?” Obviously we aren’t training for the UK or SA labour market. However, if our trained human resource can’t fit into our industry then it should concern us. My experience is that most Zambian graduates require retraining when you employ them. The reason is that industrial players aren’t included in the development of the curriculum. So there’s nothing wrong with this finding
Exactly wherein lies the issue. Totally agreed
@Ayatollah,apparently it’s not working for you. Tell me any major engineering achievements initiated by Zambian Engineers despite having a seemingly fully functional Dept of Engineering at Zambian Universities. They can’t design or even repair bridges etc. We have to call on South African or Chinese Engineers to do all the work.
@ Benson Moono, it’s not engineers alone. AgriFlora was audited and declared viable by Zambian accountants only to be declared insolvent and liquidated within a few days by an UK audit firm. The performance of the economist at Community House isn’t impressive. An engineer failed to construct a toll plaza at Manyumbi in Kabwe until the Chinese took over. There are many examples
Unza is crap, I knew it.
UNZA is crap, you knew it? Just because someone else said so? You people are stuped. A white man speaks, and therefore it is true? HH came from UNZA, went to the UK and easily got a master’s degree. Many of my friends, went to the UK and got masters degrees they give there. If these people did not have proper bachelor’s degrees, how do they do it? This the same crap they used to say about Russian and Chinese universities. Do not listen to them. They hate the fact that Zambia is becoming educated. They hate the fact that we have more universities per per person than they do. The 65 million of them have 103 universities. The 21 million of us have 64 Universities.
That’s an exaggeration all day long. UNZA is not crap. It’s pushing along despite years and years of under-funding.
Thats why its crap. You’re just confirming it: “years and years of under-funding”
The English hate us, and it time for us to start hating them. We need to close the Anglican Church Zambia as it promotes homosexuality. We need to demand democracy in the Commonwealth, meaning that the leader must be elected, failure to which we will lead Africa out of the organisation. Of course Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya would probably refuse to participate in the boycott. If we could take Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Uganda with us, it would be difficult for the other African countries to remain. Basically, we need to undermine English interests wherever they are.
Education is our greatest achievement as a country. Anyone who tries to undermine or disparage our education is the enemy of the country.
The problem is that the writer isn’t stating his actual agenda. He worked with the BBC and the World Bank, and keeps talking about ‘the resource curse’ as if it is a real thing, and not a smokescreen for resource theft by the old colonial powers. Including the UK and De Beers/Glencore/IMF/World Bank.
BTW they prey on people with low self esteem to do their bidding for them.
And why is there no curricular review? Is the money for education going elsewhere, like De Beers? World Bank ‘Structural Adjustment’?
Let us run away from the debate and revisit the curriculum and establish whether or not the course outlines of 1966 are different from the ones we have to day. If nothing has changed, then we have to go back to the drawing board.
Our curriculum is just fine. Our students go abroad and do very well in the grad courses. This time, let us ignore the English and double the number of universities. These people hate us, and resent that we are surpassing them educationally. There 65 million of them, and they have 103 universities. There are 21 million of us, and we have 58. Lets double our universities and graduate more students. They are angry because they tried to keep us illiterate. Let us defend our education, in stead of letting jealousy foreigners disparage it. Let us withdraw our recognition of English degrees, and make Swahili our national language.
I think its starts with the grade 12 results, could it be there is a high possibility that some of the entrants who get six points are not genuine, this also explains why we are not able to come up with new products in our country. There is no need to be furious on this one its spot on. During UNIP days we had only 35,000 graduates they brought us new products like Tarino and Tip Top soft drinks, lenco buses etc, through innovation, now you can see the sense out of this. This time around we have graduates in millions with zero new products no innovation at all.
We do not have a problem. These motherfakas just hate us. When they left, we were 99.7% illiterate with zero universities. Now we have more universities than they do. This is what they do when they want to work on weak-minded people. Let us double our 64 universities to 128. What they are saying is good for us, because now they will not be able to steal our graduates. Let us withdraw recognition of their degrees so that if they want to come and work in our country, they will have to retrain in our schools. Let us start charging the visa fees, and let us demand that if the head of the Commonwealth is not democratically decided, we are going to ask African and Caribbean countries to leave that organisation with us.
As a recruiter I have a lot of experience with ZEC and would tell you there are lots of fake certificates produced in longacres. These are the qualifications used to enter universities colleges and the job market
However government thinks admitting the corruption would be disastrous. This article is very appropriate and should make a concerned government investigate. There’s lots of fake qualifications in Zambia
That’s true. Today’s system which for example requires ” masters degree.. added advantage” for all kinds of low jobs almost everywhere tells the story.
Yes, Its the Resource Curse; the Paradox of Plenty; the Poverty Paradox. I hope people have got it. too much backyard universities and yet parents are just crying about boarding houses.
Ever wondered the reason for poor journalism for example? Those badly written yet published stories? it the poverty paradox.
Stop having such a low self esteem. All the students from Unza do well in their universities. These bastad are jealousy. There 65 million of them, and they have 103 universities. This means they have 631 000 people per university. There are 21 million of us and we have 64 universities, meaning that there are 328 000 of us per university. We are not too far away from surpassing these motherfakas in terms of raw graduates. Do not listen to them, make more universities and graduate more Zambians. This is what South Korea, Russia, China etc all did. Forget these asshols. They do not own university education.
Those badly written stories are aplenty from LT, ZO, Daily Nation, name them. And Zambia has institutions offering a degree in Journalism to say nothing of diplomas in journalism
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I tend to agree…….
Standards at UNZA are low……..
That’s why you have unemployable doctors who can’t find jobs……….
If a doctor can’t find a job , just know………
The Chinese graduate 4.7 million engineers and scientists every year; the Indian graduate 2.7 million engineers and scientists every year; the Americans and the Russians graduate about 560 000 engineers and scientists every year. The Iranians graduate 200 000 engineers and scientists every. The english probably graduate 5000 engineers and scientists every year. England is a finished country. The reason some of you still listen to what they say is because you are not educated. You can read any technical journal and you will see that they publish almost nothing. They do not invent anything. These people are finished and try to console themselves by disparaging other people. Let us withdraw recognition from English degrees.
There is need to introduce the Sixth Form or Grade 13 if you like. It is important that we take time to educate our nation. There is no need to rush them through curriculum and say we have educated our nation. No!
Education must be embedded into our children for life and then we have the nation in our own hands.
Kutumpa uko, UNZA can be reduced that level
The motherfakas are envious. We need to hit back
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But even if the quality is poor, some students excell………
The problem is Africans in General are not passionate about their careers……..
To them it is a way of making the most money , nothing wrong with that, but…….
The difference is in developed societies , you find people are passionate about their careers , to a point where it becomes a way of life…….
This breeds better engineers and scientists
Us we too busy with the side hussel…
There a lot of factors that make universities to produce half baked graduates.One of the critical factor is insufficient funds from Central Government. The other one is universities, most of them, luck critical thinkers on how to survive minus outside help. When we look at national budget, how much is allocated toward Research and Development in our universities? A big allocation is done towards puerile activities that do not add value in advancement of national programmes. Universities should also have savvy cadres of intellectuals who can think outside the box to generate revenue for themselves. Universities should be oasis of knowledge and skills that can develop this nation in times of crisis like drought we are experiencing.
For the first time in my life I agree with Spaka. What a miracle!
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UNZA should have been very well funded to a point of being a top uni……….
UNZA had a lot of prime land to even sustain itself without GRZ…….
What happened to that land ?????
One major problem is also this LT whenever they see that you have mentioned a very progressive point this site never allows you to post that. So this site is part of the problem
Peace Maker.You are very right.LT has done that to me a lot of times.There must be a low-life punk at LT
Me three!
I agree with most of the comments…..thant Zambians have made….it’s high time we start kicking out foreigners especially in the mining…..we have a lot of engineers from unza who jobless…..but with alot of foreigners….especially south African……get paid in us dollars…..money’s that paid to 25….Zambians at diploma level .
One of the issues with Africans is the way they perceive each other. Some sick politicians go to South Africa and are treated by Malawian nurses and Congolese doctors at the best hospitals there! Even your president has not problem listening to bazungu ‘experts’ over Zambian professionals for strategic advice. You shall always remain in a reactive mode which fuels corruption. Even this “disaster” declaration that was recently pronounced s an open door for corruption because when things are properly done, there is very little corruption possible. The west and corrupt politicians want the house to b on fire so that they can steal. Governance systems are not in alignment with our educational system, which is colonial based as the article alluded.
That’s why the private sector is doing the needful, UNZA isn’t worth a university to brag about.
What methodologies were used? And what is this organisation that sounds like a syndicate? I thought NARIC deals with TEACHING qualifications for those wishing to teach in the UK or thereabouts. Coming to South Africa, what is its significance above SAQA? Some of us have had our Zambian qualifications equivalent and in some cases above SA ones. Has this changed? If so, when did this change occur and what were the metrics. For asking these questions I will get insulted, ridiculed and worse. Just answer these questions amambala.
Which books do university of Zambia use.They don’t even produce their own books.How can they rate them well?All good universities lectures make their own books but using the national carriculum agenda.In Russia every three years a lecturer needs to update his books he uses when teaching.Not ifyaku kopela ati use this exford university book.
No way that an UNZA graduate can be inferior to a South African graduate. I have an UNZA academic background and now a lot of familiarity with South African universities, having worked at three of them. Our UNZA students can teach South African university students. That is how high Zambian education is over South African education. UK, maybe we can be lower than them, yes, but South Africa no way!
Our students at UNZA can’t even look after their own toilets and have to trek to East Park to relieve themselves. How do you expect such to get quality education??
This just means the University has no initiative. Thereby confirming the degrees the lecturers have are inferior. If I were at the University I would find a way to introduce a practical course on repairing or refurbishing communal buildings like the University hostels. Students would earn their marks on how their assigned building is faring. But these academics are only interested in incongruent textbooks produced in London. For heaven’s sake Education was not born in London!!
@Patriot what is wrong with a South African university being ranked higher than a Zambian one? You’re displaying elements of Steve Biko’s theory of “hate for your own skin” In South Africa itself that hate is ubiquitous. Thats why race riots are a regular occurrence there.
The fact is SA universities are better funded so they are bound to recruit the cream of academic personnel. Zambia used to fund UNZA adequately from the 60s to the 80s but not any more. And right now check your Ministers and upper classes’ children. They are studying in South Africa.
@Patriot, your UNZA degree was inadmissible for a Masters program at Cape Town University. Reasons:- it was inadequate or below standard or equivalent to a South African diploma. Do you understand.
I understand that, my point is that they do not realise how high our education standards are compared to theirs. It is some kind of national evaluation of theirs that that our UNZA degrees are of that low standard to equate to a diploma. I know their diplomas here, no way can they equate to a degree from UNZA.
When I went to South Africa in the 90s the Zambian degree was rated as an honours degree in South Africa but after your revolution you stopped funding the university adequately and now the same degree is equivalent to a diploma. Blame your governments not South Africa
Dr Ruwe, don’t be like Prof Chirwa, come and setup the a world class university in Zambia or even team up with UNILUS, Cavendish etc. You have this well intended idea but we have drought, unsustainable debt, unemployment etc to deal with NOW. What we really need are quality craft schools/colleges. The will teach plumbers, fitters, carpenters, bricklayers that will skilfully lay the same amount of bricks like Chinese bricklayer. Artisans that can create employment for themselves and others.
On the other hand, let’s not be carried away with this western narrative that always wants to put us down. Yes we have our issues, so does China. However, China doesn’t ascribe to seeking validation from westerners. They have & maintain their own Chinese agenda. Yes they borrow/spy/steal intellectual property for their own benefit. However the don’t seek western validation of their universities or anything for that matter. Today China is in pole position to overtake the US in a few decades. Chinese are confident in their own skin. Let’s learn something from their attitude towards western hegemony.
This is the best article l have ever ready in LT. Then you know you are reading an a well researched article fr a trained & educated person in journalism etc. Not that half-backed std 4 English l ready fr Zambian ‘journalists’.
Field Ruwe writes very well. He seems to be a natural communicator. Imagine I used to enjoy his Comedy on Zambian TV even when I was five years old. He could communicate.
@Benson Moono I agree entirely. One of the best articles ever written on LT. The number of comments can tell. t is a indictment on Zambian journalists who are really of low calibre and that includes the LT.
Tell them to keep their stinky racist uk we will keep our zambia. Hh can move there
In a nation that clearly doesnt have the skills to impart knowledge or skill as our University and colleges manifest how do you introduce free education? Free Miseducation? HH recruit experts to repair our entire education system
Its true zambian degrees of nowadays are worthless unless those who got their degree pre 2000. That’s why it’s better to study abroad.
I do not even know why people are upset here. Indeed the truth hurts. UNZA uses outdated books from the UK. The use 1970 curriculum from the UK. I have worked Engineers from UNZA and they are the dullest Engineers you will ever get. Very good theories but who need and Engineer who talks all the time. Look at another product of UNZA HH, all talk no action
Dear Colleagues
Greetings from this end. I am aware that you are currently busy at the ATACH meeting in Madrid. We however must keep things moving forward considering the tight schedule that we are on right now.
You may recall that we escalated the participation of Palestine in the program to HQ. Happy to inform you that we have now received approval for the inclusion of Palestine in the program. To this effect, we would like to urgently organize an introductory call, like the ones we had with the other six countries. I would like to check your availability for next week Thursday March 14 at 9:30 CET, 10:30 Palestine and 11:30 Istanbul.
Looking forward to hearing from you ASA
Lets invest heavily in education. It ends there
So is it advisable to study medicine in Zambia. If the degree is no longer considered relevant by Uk.
English engineering: https://youtu.be/0kvonrxGCps
Even if it were true that UNZA degrees were useless, why write such an article? To what end? If your sister is a prostitute, do you go out announcing it to the neighbors? You keep quiet and try to resolve the matter and help your sister. It is normal for some universities to refuse to recognize other universities particularly those form Africa or the former East block countries. That does not mean the degrees from that university are not good. The last time I was in Europe which was more than 10 years ago, European universities were employing lectures from the so-called “Ivy League” universities. Does that mean European universities are bad? Many universities have a commercial agenda which talks to admitting certain types of students, but that is a long topic on its own. Support your own
If your sister is prostituting it is a family matter to solve as it may only involve a few. The education system is a public matter because it uses finances from the public pool. The author is quite entitled to a public castigation of an institution he pays for. The university should also be grateful for such critiques
To drive the point home- Just take a look at Former President Lungu, a UNZA graduate. Does he look like a graduate or a lawyer for that matter? No. Its really a shame even to hear his reasoning. Is UNZA proud that it produced a graduate like Lungu?
Kikikikiki Lungu was often awol from lectures. He just managed a bare pass
@Daniel..Lungu does not portray anything in the guise of a graduate or indeed a lawyer. Shame on UNZA for producing such a rascal!
Actually this post was all about Cavendish
Doesn’t this give us pause for reflection and introspection about the quality of our education? Whether UNZA, or another University, lets take this opportunity to improve the quality of education that can rival any anywhere in the world. I posted here that i’ve reviewed job applicants for international positions from some of our Zambian post-graduate applicants. Very embarrassing. It should make us angry not defensive. We need to confront the falling educational standards NOW.
This is good because they want us to think for ourselves and not just follow. The downside to this could result in Zambian students flocking to these foreign countries to do their degrees instead of staying at home. The same people will also advise our leaders to cut spending on education and health so that we continue to be at their mercy. Nfiti!
While the principles of engineering and science remain the same, we can raise our professional pride by tailoring our education system to the local needs of our industries. Chinese and Indians have scored well on this approach. And yes , we perform well when in enrolled in their universities despite their negative claims, but for whose benefit if what we bring back home cannot solve our own problems?
The UNIP govt constructed the UNZA to give opportunities to Zambians to get university education. At independence there were only about 100 graduates the whole country! Many years later we have someone writing such a toxic article after what that institution has done for this country! It is a normal thing for some universities or employers to refuse some qualifications. Also many graduates need further training at their jobs to become competent. A university degree does not guarantee that a person will perform a job. This article just shows how toxic some Zambians can be. Its like that person you invite for a free meal and they walk away complaining how terrible the meal was. Samora Macheal University at UNZA is one of the best universities in the region. Love your own.
A child who has not moved will always think that the mother is the best cook. The fact is that Zambian education has fallen terribly behind over the years of neglect under MMD and PF regimes.
By the way Congolese are making a better impact on the world stage than Zambian probably because most have used the refuge status to get better education elsewhere.
All towns in Zambia are literally owned by indians all because of corruption in successive governments and it concerns no one. We need to start affirmative action to buy back building in all towns and find a method to reallocate them to deserving Zambians so that towns become locally owned again. Foreigner need to be seriously forced to partner with locals as equals.
They keep blocking me
Bollocks more likely Talk time issue
Change the curriculum by aligning it with the challenges Zambia is facing, and incorporate the elements to solve these challenges. We need critical thinkers in leadership.
Stop waiting for external forces to tell how your educational curriculum should be. It’s easy peasy.
Anything black or black-related/created equals inferior , says and thinks the white man.
Dr Ruwe is spot on. As expected Zambians like to comment on things they don’t even know or understand. UNZA has failed to move with time. Naric evaluates the course content of the degree and not what the degree states. As an example first year electrical engineering, mechanical engineering & civil engineering students at UNZA learn A-levels Maths, Physics, Chemistry & biology. Compare that with what a first year electrical engineering at University of Cape Town or Warwick University in the UK learns. An entire academic year is wasted at UNZA teaching A-levels and unfortunately that works against those engineering degrees.
Nothing wrong with teaching A-levels to first year students at UNZA. It helps to reset students coming from different backgrounds and to orient them to university education. The major flaw we have is to think that everything foreign is better than local!
Secondly, universities have an accreditation system. BSc Electrical Engineering programmes offered in South African universities have the Washington Accord Accreditation. The list of countries on the Washington Accord are: Australia, Canada, China, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysian, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, UK & USA. South Africa is the only African country to make the cut. Zambia needs to invest in its top institution to elevate the standards and quality of degrees offered. UNZA needs to accredit lots of its programmes to international standards an not teach A-levels an entire academic year to aspiring engineering students.
Just like in a group of boys, those from well to do family will pour scorn on those poor ones, you gat nothing boy, just do what I say and you are good to go….
That’s how things are on planet earth!