Zambia: Mushrooming Universities Compromising Quality Education – Catholic Priest

Zambia/Febrero de 2017/Fuente: Zambia Reports

RESUMEN: Un cura católico ha observado que la cantidad sin precedentes de las universidades que proliferan en Zambia, compromete la calidad de la educación terciaria. P. Patrick Chilambwe,  Rector de la Universidad Católica de Zambia, dice que hace falta  un marco para ofrecer una educación de calidad, la mayoría de las instituciones de educación superior están por debajo.

A Catholic priest has observed that the unprecedented number of mushrooming universities in Zambia is compromising the quality of tertiary education.

Fr Patrick Chilambwe, the Vice Chancellor of the Zambia Catholic University, says in the absence of a framework to deliver quality education, most higher learning institutions are falling short.

BELOW IS THE STATEMENT ISSUED BY ZCCB COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER MWENYA MUKUKA

Vice Chancellor of the Zambia Catholic University (ZCU) has observed that plurality of Universities without a framework has continued to be a challenge on the quality of tertiary education in the country.

Fr. Patrick Chilambwe said that when the country has a too many higher learning institutions there should be a frame work to regulate quality of education being delivered.

“When you have so many institutions of higher learning, there must be a framework to ensure that that what matters is not the number, but the quality of education being offered. And I am sure that quality is a challenge the education system is facing in Zambia. We are however hopeful that in the coming few years this will be addressed,” he said.

And Fr. Chilambwe has said the Catholic Church strongly believes that education in its truest sense is about giving people orientation, direction and true meaning of life.

He said that it is about opening minds to life long search for wisdom adding that it is deeper than information giving because enables people to be proactive, be in control of their lives and broaden economic, social and other opportunities.

“Education goes beyond the getting of knowledge. It is for an application of the dignity of each and every member of society. The Catholic education believes that education is vital for the integral development of the people in social, economic, cultural, spiritual, political and religious spheres,” he noted.

And the ZCU Vice Chancellor said that there cannot be true and authentic development without well-educated citizens.

“There cannot be true and authentic development without well-educated citizens, therefore education is not a privilege for a few people but is basically a fundamental right for each and every citizen of any given country,” he noted.

Speaking when a conducted Holy Mass at Zambia Catholic University (ZCU), Mass Communications Faculty in Lusaka on Friday, 17th February, 2017, Fr. Chilambwe re-echoed Pope John II’s message that education is above all the communication of Christ and helping to form Christ in the lives of others.

“Education is not a commodity, even if Catholic schools equip its graduates with enviable skills, but rather a Catholic school sets out to be a place of human person and of human persons adding the Catholic University should be grounded on the community of people who believe in Jesus Christ,” he observed.

He further said that specific the purpose of a Catholic education is for the formation of students who will not only be good citizens of today but also for the world to come.

Fuente: https://zambiareports.com/2017/02/18/mushrooming-universities-compromising-quality-education-catholic-priest/