Government has challenged higher learning institutions in the country to step up and come up with modalities that encourages students during enrolment stage.
Ministry of Mines Permanent Secretary (PS), Paul Chanda disclosed that colleges and universities in the country should adopt deliberate measures that attract students to be enrolled.
The PS notes that one such institution is the School of Mines at the University of Zambia (UNZA) which has very few number of students.
Officiating in Lusaka yesterday during the prize giving ceremony for 32 graduates, the PS said Zambia has a deficit of 40 percent metallurgists and geologists.
Mr. Chanda leant that only 20 students had successfully finished their course out of 100.
The PS was dismayed by the low number of professionals being offloaded to the mines industry.
He further disclosed fears that as Zambia commemorates 100 years of mining activities in 2024, the mining sector will have very few professionals working under his ministry.
He noted that mining is a major economic activity in the country hence, tertiary institutions should come up and fill in the gaps.
He however, said government is aware of the challenges UNZA is faced with and assured that his ministry is not sitting idle but addressing the challenges.
And UNZA Vice Chancellor, Professor Luke Mumba bemoaned the poor infrastructures at his institution.
Prof. Mumba appealed to mining firms in the country to consider sponsoring students at the school of Mines.
You have killed all those jobs by bringing in your Chinese friends and encouraging value addition activities to happen outside of the country. How dare you even say that in your aimless speech! I am sure even those nuclear science professionals you are pretending to prepare will be overtaken by Russian labor when the time comes. Stop playing politics!!! Stop it!!
Mr. PS, with due respect you are wrong by stating that there is a shortage of Mets and Geos in this country. There are so many of these guys who have jobs even today. How can you lead a ministry if you don’t even know what’s going on in the mining industry?
this PS is a joke, how many people have done geology and they are still roaming about the streets. but Lungu is destroying the country having a PS talking like that with fake statistics
The greatest crime of the millennia committed against Zambia is having a clueless PF in GRZ.
You have blown $17 billion, yet you are begging for a bailout…..Zambia now should be riding a wave of high employment , high exports and high standards of living….but what we have is roads and full of shopping malls stocking foreign goods with 80 % unemployment rates in the country…..
Zambia should have spent $500 million on skills training and skills updates for our citizens targeting specific areas. By now there would have been no need for all these foringne expats…mulungushi textiles and kapriri glass among others should have been opened…
The greatest crime committed against Zambia (which formed ONE ZAMBIA ONE NATION government) is to have tribal H-organization destroying the fiber of our nation which had been the envy of nations in Africa. A clueless Tribalist H-organization posing as a party has hurt Zambia’s image and it is time for Zambia to stand up and isolate all tribalists.
GOD help Zambia.
Not understanding the situational awareness and skill audit in the country..
This is a Joke of the twenty-first century,,, it is easy to graduate under School of Mines than in Civil,,Mechatronics,, ENG INC,,,, I have a lot of Friends who are Metullurgysts and Jobless at the same time. If the above is true, then companies should be at CBU and UNZA door steps when ever Metullurgysts are graduating,, then we will know that,, the named discipline is on demand
The Ps is surounded by lazy people. let them contact me on 0965411710. I
will present to them a list of metallugists and geologists who are not working.
Do your research properly bwana. Your facts are wrong
Bwana PS Paul CChanda..with due respect u ve very wrong data…CBU…on average produces 40 mtallurgists every year and plus those produced at UNZA…we have enough metallurgists….In addition.metallurgists are facing stiff competition from those who ve studied chemical engineering and BSc in Pure chemistry in mining industries…So bwana PS with due respect i think u re wrong
Awe ba PS take interest to do your own audit .Masuwa hope Bwana PS office will call you
The onus is on LT to confront this gossiping PS with facts. This PS is shameless, and if he represents GRZ then God help us! Let him provide an address to which Met & Geology raduates can forward their applications and CVs. He will be shocked…
I am a Metallurgist and work in one of the mines. The new owners when they came, had the audacity to scrap off the job – Metallurgist – from the organization chart because it was preserved for expatriate employees. Qualified Mets have had to take on lesser jobs as plant operators out of desperation due to few job opportunities.
The Engineering Institute Of Zambia is also culpable! instead of just collecting subscriptions and throwing out parties in form of useless conventions, it needs to do more! like ask for its members to be properly…
…remunerated.
The gap between learning institutions – CBU & UNZA – has never been wider! Recent graduates complete their courses without having to be attached to mining companies so as to gain industrial experience.
Zambia has contributed a lot, we have a lot of geologist in Zambia but most of the Zambian mining houses desire to hire cheap foreign geos. We have a lot Zambian geologist working out side the country.
Zambia had many metallurgists especially during ZIT days.