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R 251450Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7602
INFO SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS LUSAKA 000052 
 
 
STATE FOR AF/S LAYLWARD, STATE ALSO FOR AF/PAPD LALLISON, 
PRETORIA FOR EWILLIAMS AND CPRIESTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL SOCI KIRC KPAO ZA
SUBJECT: HOLLOWED HALLS: ZAMBIA'S TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Chronic absences. Poor preparation. 
Classroom inebriation. And that's just the professors. While 
gains have been made in elementary and secondary education, 
insufficient capacity, resources, facilities and training 
have crippled Zambia's ability to educate its citizenry at 
the tertiary level. Only two percent of Zambians possess a 
bachelor's degree or higher. Those who matriculate to 
state-run universities often fall prey to illicit activity in 
their efforts to afford basic costs. Private institutions are 
slowly filling the void, making some headway in developing 
international university linkages and meeting limited needs. 
However, absent stronger government commitment to and higher 
funding for tertiary education, Zambia is unlikely to achieve 
its development goals. Student and faculty reports of lax 
standards and allegations of mismanagement of funds suggest 
that opportunity may lie in offering direct faculty access to 
curriculum resources and student leadership training. End 
summary. 
 
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Another brick in the crumbling wall 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The dilapidated condition of Zambia's two state-run 
universities, University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt 
University (CBU), evokes little optimism about the prospects 
for tertiary education. At UNZA, the country's "flagship" 
institution, poorly maintained facilities lack electricity, 
computers, reliable online access, furniture, and adequate 
classroom and housing space for the 10,000  students. 
Zambia's 2010 budget does include a 16 percent increase in 
education spending, but that is largely reserved for 
long-overdue administration and faculty wage increases. Lack 
of physical capacity at the two universities means the vast 
majority of qualified student applicants are rejected, 
leading many instead to pursue less marketable two-year 
diplomas at public technical colleges. Technical colleges 
themselves suffer from teacher recruitment shortfalls and 
construction that fails to keep pace with student demands. 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), less 
than a quarter of eligible higher education applicants ever 
matriculate. Those who do and obtain campus housing reputedly 
do so based on connections and nepotism. Students live six to 
a room built for two, as those granted a room rent out floor 
space to make ends meet. Faced with desperate measures to 
afford tuition and housing, a predominant portion of the 
student population, male and female, trade sexual favors to 
predators who routinely cruise campus areas. UNZA's HIV/AIDS 
outreach office has not divulged the student HIV/AIDS rate. 
Anecdotal evidence suggests prevalence is higher than the 
national average of 14.3 percent. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Faculty face scarce academic resources, limited 
access to materials and minimal curriculum guidance. The 
student bookstore lacks "required" reading for classes and 
university libraries are woefully under-resourced with lax 
security that fails to ensure protection of donated works. 
UNZA's library houses few books published in the last decade 
and no access to online journals of information. One 
professor of American literature admitted that a lesson about 
"Huck Finn" consisted of students photocopying selected pages 
for discussion rather than reading the actual book. Students 
report that classroom instruction is not rigorous and rarely 
consists of anything other than faculty anecdotes and debates 
about current political bickering. Rarely do classroom 
discussions encourage development of critical thinking 
skills. 
 
¶5. (SBU) From top to bottom, apathy, corruption and 
incompetence have combined to create a barely functioning 
state-run tertiary education system. Faculty claim material 
donations rarely make it out of administrators' offices. 
Administrators grapple with chronic absenteeism among 
faculty. Many faculty members hold two to three jobs to 
supplement their income and often ditch class to attend to 
demands from other employers. Reports of alcoholism among 
faculty recently led administrators to admonish them via 
written notice and decree that alcohol will no longer be 
served in campus cafes before 4 p.m. Lack of administrative 
oversight has allowed professors to reduce four-hour courses 
to two, cancel classes for a month, and fail to engage in 
research, despite contract mandates to do so. Erratic class 
schedules and lack of meaningful classroom engagement 
manifest in regular student attendance rates of less than 50 
percent. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Private universities pull substitute duty 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Motivated administrators and professors have struck 
out on their own to establish private universities. A small 
cadre of UNZA professors founded Zambian Open University 
(ZOU), touted as "a university without walls." Now with an 
enrollment of more than 5,000, ZOU is a distance learning 
institution that caters to primary and secondary school 
educators who could attain no more than a two-year 
certificate or vocational diploma. The university's board 
chairperson speculates that with the youth bulge, the country 
faces a deficit of 20,000 teachers, a dire situation ZOU 
hopes to ameliorate. ZOU seeks to increase its enrollment to 
20,000 by 2020, offering five Bachelor of Education degrees 
ranging from early childhood to adult education, along with 
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Newly founded private religious universities are 
also beginning to offer four-year degrees. Northrise 
University, established by a U.S.-educated Zambian couple, 
emphasizes faith-based learning but offers bachelor's degrees 
in business and information technology, with plans to add a 
four-year agriculture degree. Northrise has linkages with 
reputable Iowa and California institutions that offer study 
abroad opportunities for Zambian students at the Northrise 
tuition rate. Catholic University focuses on religious 
education with additional bachelor's degrees in business, 
geography and development studies. Each of the private higher 
education institutions seeks expanded U.S. university 
linkages. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In late 2009, President Banda singled out ZOU, 
praising its self-sufficiency. He called for greater public 
private partnership and extolled his own government's work to 
create a policy environment that allows individuals and 
organizations to establish educational institutions "without 
any difficulties." In the same breath, however, he called for 
greater government regulation and control of private 
universities. 
 
----------------------------------- 
When Zambia fails to make the grade 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Barring significant changes in education policy, 
increased funding and renewed political will, the state-run 
tertiary education system in Zambia will further deteriorate. 
State universities maintain less stringent, circa-1964 
admission requirements, set by a government sensitive to the 
substandard pre-independence education system. Inefficient 
processing of high school exit exams requires matriculating 
university students to endure a gap year void of academic 
activity. Lecturers seek higher salaries and better teaching 
conditions: MOE reports that between 1984 and 1994, UNZA lost 
more than 230 lecturers, 161 of whom were PhDs, mostly to 
other institutions in southern and eastern Africa. 
Reportedly, UNZA seeks to phase out its English curriculum 
due to declining enrollment. This would be a serious blow to 
a country of substandard English language ability. UNZA's 
chancellor blames the sorry state of affairs on lack of a 
national vision for higher education. He warns that the 
dearth of university graduates threatens Zambia's ability to 
realize Vision 2030, the country's long-term development 
plan. MOE has announced plans to establish a Higher Education 
Authority to coordinate all higher education, but full 
implementation is likely to consume time Zambia does not have. 
 
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Comment 
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¶10. (SBU) Comment: Frighteningly, our assessment is that a 
Zambian university degree is no assurance of academic 
achievement or quality. Lack of access to adequate tertiary 
education makes economic growth and poverty reduction a 
Herculean - if not impossible - task for Zambia. In a country 
where 50 percent of the population is under the age of 18, 
such a severely undereducated youth population makes Zambia 
ripe for instability. Academic chaos at state-run schools 
precludes large-scale Mission engagement via government 
channels. However, the Mission can make inroads with 
aggressive outreach to faculty, targeted resource allocations 
and nurturing of individual students' critical thinking 
skills. Filling the void of access to information and 
material resources presents the greatest opportunity for the 
Mission. Consequently, Post intends to expand its Information 
Resource Center, American Center and American Corner, and 
more systematically pursue linkages with U.S. colleges and 
universities. Additionally, post will explore a longer-term 
educational advising strategy that establishes college prep 
clubs to groom students at an earlier age than senior high 
school, offering English language exposure and constructive 
activities during the gap year. 
 
 
KOPLOVSKY