Hichilema’s plan to overhaul higher education sector

Zambia’s new president, Hakainde Hichilema, has vowed to revamp the higher education sector which, like many other sectors, took a hit from years of economic erosion and underinvestment.

In the past decade, Zambia has been overwhelmed by debt payments and consumption, affecting its ability to invest in productive sectors of the economy and tackle gaps in healthcare, education and other social services.

In a speech at the opening of the first session of the 13th National Assembly on 10 September, and as largely touted in his party’s (the United Party for National Development) election manifesto, Hichilema undertook to facilitate equal opportunities to education for girls by addressing barriers faced by female learners.

This will be partly done by reforming the higher education loan and bursary scheme to ensure it benefits deserving learners, particularly poor girls who can’t afford university fees.

According to the Education and Skills Sector Plan 2017-2021, gender is an equity concern for university education, with an overall female enrolment share of 47.4%, while the enrolment discrepancy is more severe in science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses.

Quality and industry linkages

“We also ensure that established standards for quality education are met and enforced. In addition, we will enhance linkages between education and industry to ensure graduates have relevant and employable skills.

“We want to produce graduates with the ability to contribute innovations to industry, create jobs and wealth,” Hichilema said.

He further promised to review the education curriculum to align it with the required artisan skills and national development goals.

To show that his administration considers education, science and skills development as equalisers, Hichilema created a new Ministry of Technology and Science to be a major driver of economic growth and innovation, and appointed Felix Mutati to head it.

Under the previous president, Edgar Lungu, science, technology and innovation functions were domiciled in a number of line ministries.

University of Johannesburg-based Zambian academic Professor Kelvin Bwalya*, told University World News the creation of the technology and science ministry was an opportunity to promote the transformation of youths’ ideas into intellectual capital.

“The ministry will have to work together with the Ministry of Education to promote STEM education which is a key aspect of the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said.

“The ministry needs to encourage research and innovation, starting from basic science in Zambian universities to applied research in specialist research institutions,” he said.

He said the new regime created hope for sanity in the higher education sector, including dealing with fake universities, which the Higher Education Authority has failed to organise to appreciable levels.

Funding levels

George Hamusunga, executive director of the Zambia National Education Coalition, a coalition of civil society actors, said Hichilema’s promises to reform higher education were achievable provided they were accompanied by political will.

“As a research organisation, we don’t normally rely so much on what is entirely in their manifesto, a political document.

“Their promises for higher education are all very feasible when they are accompanied with political will and the political will must start with commitments around increasing vital budgetary allocations to the education sector,” he said.

“Only when that’s done then we expect them to do most of the things,” he told University World News.

Hamusunga called for dedicated funding or an education levy that is ring-fenced specifically to support the education and skills sector. The 2022 education and skills sector budget must increase from the current 11.5% to about 15% of the overall national budget with the aim of reaching 20% by the year 2023, he said.

“Best practice we have seen in other countries is to have a dedicated revenue towards education. As a government comes into power it also comes with the authority to be able to raise revenue and so we expect the new government to restructure the country’s debt in order to free some funding for development,” he said.

Bwalya said that, although the intention to do good was there, most of the promises bordered on rhetoric.

“These pronouncements are formulaic and textbook material – even the previous government said so much about this. The question is: how will this be achieved and what budgetary allocation has been made to ensure this is done?”

*Views expressed in this article do not represent those of the University of Johannesburg but are individual statements. Professor Kelvin Joseph Bwalya is the vice dean of research, department of information and knowledge management, at the University of Johannesburg’s College of Business and Economics, South Africa.