UK Says University Of Zambia Degrees are Equivalent to Diplomas
10 March 2024
Lusaka-The United Kingdom Home Office is shunning University of Zambia graduates for 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.
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.
The article does not in any way state how and in which areas UNZA degrees are inferior.
Is it to do with the curriculum or the quality of the lectures or the infrastructure?
Let’s not forget that Zambian academics mostly from UNZA are lecturing in universities in the region including South Africa and Cape Town university in particular. They are also lectures and practicing professionals from UNZA in Europe, the USA, Canada and many other western countries.
What a contradiction of terms to claim inferiority of degrees and employ individuals with the said inferior degrees as your lecturers.
More of a self hate speech than real substance.
The UNZA of 2015 down the road is exactly what the UK has described. What do you expect from assignments done by idiots for the idiots? STUPID IDIOTS.
That’s happens when you award undeserved PhDs to the likes of Lungu and Munaganwa. Makerere suffered the same same fate when Idi Amin was conferred with undeserved degrees.
My view us that the degradation of UNZA degrees has more to do with awarding honorary PhDs to undeserving individuals. What accomplishments have Edgar Lungu and Zimbabwe’s Edson Munagagwa achieved to receive honorary PhDs? Recall the drama of how the senate and council were harassed to bestow the the PhDs on the two. Autocracy, dictatorship,cadreism, lawlessness and violence!!! And you awarding PhDs for that? For those that are young. Makerere university suffered the same fate during and after the rein of dictator Idi Amin for similar abuse of the ivory tower.