Dear Editor,
I would like to bring to the attention of the Minister of Higher Education and the general public the unfortunate and disturbing scenario that the CBU Distance Education Department is using to dupe the students of their hard earned money.
This department is under-staffed and has now resorted to employing non-degree and diploma holders as lecturers for evening and distance education students. For example, some people who were released some years back for lack of proper qualifications have now been re-employed when they have not obtained the necessary Masters Degree or higher to warrant the lecturing positions. The powerful forces it seems are giving the lecturers’ jobs to friends and relatives without taking into consideration their qualifications.
The question is, “Is it right to have these under-qualified people to lecture would-be degree holders who pay exorbitant university fees?This issue has to be urgently attended to if the CBU and the education system are not to be compromised and hence tarnish the university’s reputation.
Concerned Student
I dont believe in dis!
Maybe 4 u evening guys.dats a none starter 4 us on full tym!
I have never heard of dat.disturbing if true
get into the full time programs if you want quality, dont just complain, full time or morning programs are well conducted. distance and evening progs are just like APU in high school.
That is not the solution. Pay attention to the problem. People get into these alternative arrangements for various reasons. Just because you can afford to be in FT programs does not mean everyone else can.
Even FT itself is in shambles. I cannot even see why I paid for my brother’s ZMK 5.3m when he can be more comfortable sitting on a bench at church than being in a lecture room at CBU. I was at CBU myself and the only change I have seen ever since I left school is tghe hiking of fees. ZMK 22m for what? When the intrastructure is still the same ZIT stuff. Anyway that’s what you get when state institutions go for decades w/o being audited.
I meant infrastureand also ZMK 5.3m on 75% bursary.
Even people in evening and distance programmes deserve quality. Have some respect
two questions for @Mwakajay… first, is it, physically and otherwise, possible for EVERYONE to enroll full-time? and second, when an institution declares its intention to award higher degrees, does that, ethically and otherwise, entail ensuring that the appropriately qualified people are recruited to handle students? The problem and concerns raised by the authors of this letter need to be extended to all other new institutions of higher learning. is our inspectorate division doing its job?Â
CBU as an instituition needs to be cleansed like the judiciary. I have my doubts on the comment from the author as the centre for continued education is run much better than the main campus under col. Mwila (rt).
Ba Zitoon
A pack of lies
Nothing new at CBU. Situation is the same for the regular courses. I was taught by incompetent degree holders in the school of technology. Just go to the website of the university and see the qualifications of the lecturers. Certainly the situation  is changing with a few lecturers now going for higher studies but what is the point of getting a phd at 40 when you are past your productive years?
Oi! don’t bring age into this, it is about qualifications. Lol!
No! Age is not the issue here!
What is the productive age?
Life begins at 40 iwe mulondwe muzungu, for at this age you have seen all there was to see as a teenager, you have made mistakes all there was to be made in your 20’s, you tried to get married to your high school sweetie only to be disappointed, she has moved on to a mature and older man, you become stead in your 30’s only to be wood winked by a 22 year old, You lose your friends from HIV/AIDS and adopts their kids, until you realise it can happen to you.
Life begins at 40 and to have a Phd at that age, is actually a blessing. Most people have a doctorate long into their prime. Age is not a barrier to academic prowess.
I would hardly call 40 past productive. Remember you will also be 40 one day so have some respect.
WInter Kabimba sending PF cadres to teach. No wonder he is giving them scholarship to go and study in Sudan.
Wilanshekesha iwe. Naumfwa Siex
Okay Silvia, where? When?
The author might have a point. Something needs to be done to correct the situation, or could it be that the so-called under-qualified lecturers are experts of their fields of work that is relevant to the concerned course offers at CBU?
Not all industry experts are PhD or Masters Degree holders. One hopes that the author is not just being arrogant. This arrogance has led to some grads taking academics to the head, and failing to perform when presented with a job opportunity, because they flagged their degrees, and did not listen at Uni nor from the experts they found at the places of work.
I am a postgrad too. My warning is simply to be very careful you don’t misunderstand the academic/professional world.
@Gundix yes age matters. I suppose you are in the UK right? The average age at which a person gains a phd is 28 years, the same applies to the rest of Europe, America and even Asia. By the time one retires at say 60 years he would have had served 32 years in the university doing research and training new scientists, engineers etc. We need to overhaul our education system and that way bring quality to universities by providing young, energetic qualified lecturers!
AVERAGE, emphasis on average. Not everybody gets their PhD at that age. Some will be older some will be younger. Bottomline is it doesn’t matter at what age you get it. Its a free world and people can decide what time is best for them. Our universities need qualified lecturers period. it doesn’t matter how old they are as long as they can deliver. I find your attitude discriminatory.
That average is bogus,especially in africa. What matters is one getting Phd with quality education and experience!!!
The minimum qualification for a lecturer is a master’s degree, this is standard practice even in the western world. For example, UK universities would rather employ a lecturer with a PhD and a record of publications in top-rated journals. A master’s holder will be employed as lecturer based on their industry experience. Amazingly, UK universities employ academics without even a master’s degree but they call them associate tutors. CBU calls such as SDFs or technical instructors. Truth is CBU is under-staffed especially at DDEOL. My view is that this has been caused by poor leadership and a lack of vision to create a critical mass of adequately qualified lecturers. I think the situation is getting better now.
Mulondwe Muzungu, Poor judgement. 40 years is not past productive years. In my life many of the productive people I have seen have been over 40 years. Change your kind of thinking. It is dull.Look around you and open your eyes. I don’t know how old you are but very soon you will wake up to find you are 40 and I wonder what you will say about yourself. I am not old, so do not think I am saying this because I am old. I am just against your mediocre thinking.
Ba Mulondwe Muzungu, I hope you got your own PhD at 25. And I hope that your PhD is not just the Pull Him Down. We need to be realistic based on our situation in Zambia bearing in mind how hard it is to get funding to undertake advanced studies in form of master’s and PhDs. Does a PhD define your productivity? Does it mean you cant be productive with a bachelor’s and a master’s that you got in your 20′? Does it mean you cant be productive even without a PhD? I think a PhD just enhances your perspectives to life issues and research skills. To say the least that type of thinking is shallow and unproductive in itself. I hope you have a PhD ba Muzungu
CBU has trained many lecturers over the years; but i tell you what happens. Immediately they are trained, and are qualified enough, they are treated so badly that the only alternative is leaving the institution. If there was a will, many lecturers would come back and perform their duties. But its not in the interest of management to get all these PhD holders back to the institution. Why would a person earn a quarter of their worth when doing the same work elsewhere? The hierarchy of needs starts with “physiological needs” and pay is a cardinal issue to the satisfaction of that need. There has been a lot cooking at CBU; more than people may realise. Most of it borders on tribalism and PHD (Pull him down) syndrome.
It is always the case when a trades centre is upgraded to university. It is not CBU but ZIT still. Let the guys go to CoBIC.
From scholarship allocation, to promotion, office allocation to teaching schedule, contracts to nearly everything; its about which camp you are. But such has been the case for the whole of Zambia since 1991; and it will take more than 20 years to clean. By then, you may have graduated; but your kids could be taught by the right kind of people.
Thanks for bringing the story to the attension of the public.. those are the ones Mwanawasa refered them as half baked lecturers :d
When the shit hits the fun :(
I will apply as an SDF
@ mulondwe muzungu, believe it people in Zambia and Africa in general get their PhDs around 28 as well. The problem is they choose not to go home. At that age one is mobile and less responsible. Most of the PhD holders living in the diaspora, no matter their age now, attained their papers under 30. Above 30, one is likely to be married and responsible over some works or larger family affairs making the decision to live abroad a difficult one. Countries like China, India and Malaysia have used this to their advantage. Most non-entrepreneur immigrants become irrelevant to their host countries once in their 40’s. Responsible govts make it lucrative for such people to get back home and impart their abundant knowledge in a major way, giving them influential positions in the economy.
Spot-on @Rycus!
Yaba!
Employ me if you can. I have M.Ed. in Education, MBA, BSc. in Production Management, Diploma in Production Management, Diploma in Agriculture Crops Production, Tech. Teacher’s Diploma. I can be a very suitable material for learners. But grant me good conditions of service for me to give up what I am doing.
Chikwakwa: degree 4 years,masters 1 year, PHD 2 years. 4+1+2=7. Therefore if you entered university at an average age of 20 then you can have PhD around 30 without any experience. Engineering: degree 5 years, masters 2 years, PhD 5 years. 5+2+5=12. This shows that most people obtain their Phd’s around 40 if you factor in the required working experience.
At scooby doo and srappy doo;
I think you hav given a honest assessment. I’ll be around 37 by the time i complete my PhD here in the UK, although I’ve taught Metallurgy for about 4 yrs at UNZA with a 2-yr masters degree from RSA. I also have about 1 and 1/2 yrs industrial experience. Your maths roughly balance up.
It doesn’t matter at what age you obtain your PhD. It’s wisdom and humility that counts! As for unqualified lecturers at CBU, it would be unfortunate because for all i know there is a minimum qualification that is considered before one is given a job at this institution, and that is a master degree. An inquiry into this anomaly can be instituted and anyone found wanting brought to book.
RM, I agree with you. The age you get your PhD is immaterial (and it works better getting your P hD after years of experience). I see at CBU notice board that Chibamba Kanyama is among those accepted for PhD programme (School of Business Studies). His CV on website shows he was born 1965!
@scooby doo and srappy doo, I agree with you! Even when you are retained as SDF, if you’re lucky the University will send you to go and pursue your Masters degree after 2 years. For an Engineering Masters, it takes you up to two years. When you go back home after obtaining your Masters degree to go and teach, the University may ask you to work for a minimum of 4 to 5 years before they allow you to go and pursue your Ph.D. As someone working as Lecturer back home, age works to your advantage, you mature academically with age…
It is the laziness of the Phd holders/lecturers that is a a worry. They are always drinking tujilijili at riverside/parklands. They recycle notes and exams/tests, How can a seroius lecture be asking for definitions of this and that at a master degree level exam. That what I saw at CBU.
The set up in Afirca as a whole is that it is difficult to get a PhD b4 30 yrs. Those who have, might ve grown up outside Africa. Thats why the sponsors are realistic enough to say that one going 4 masters must not be over 35, one 4 PhD 40.
It seems Zambians are inherently dishonest. The term ‘honest Zambian’ is an oxymoron period. It does not matter what it is, Zambians will subvert it. That said, I beg to differ with author on one point. A lecturer only ever needs a Bachelor’s degree. In Engineering and IT good experience is just as important.
*A bad carpenter always blame his tools!*