Five illegal varsities shut

FIVE Universities have been operating illegally in the country, Higher Education Authority (HEA) Communications Manager Birbal Musoba has said.

The universities, Mr Musoba said, had been operating without registering with the HEA

"Notice is here given to the general public that the listed institutions are illegally operating as Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Republic of Zambia contrary to the provisions of the Higher Education Act No. 4 of 2013,"he said.

Mr Musoba said the universities were Elpalate University in Lusaka, Landmark University in Lusaka, Shalome University in Kitwe, Shaphat University in Lusaka and Yesbud University in Lusaka.

Mr Musoba said: "This notice has been issued pursuant to Part IV Section 15 (1) of the Higher Education Act number 4 of 2013 which states that a person shall not operate a private HEI unless the private HEI is registered under this Act.”

He said the aforementioned institutions were fraudulently issuing financial aid to unsuspecting members of the general public in order to recruit them.

Mr Musoba said HEA had therefore strongly warned the general public not to enrol in any private institution that was not registered with the Authority.

He said that Melburn Institute of Applied Sciences was offering illegal degrees.

"This notice has been issued pursuant to Statutory Instrument number 25 of 2016 Part III Paragraph 10 (1) which states that the proprietor of an HEI shall not offer Learning Programmes (LPs) for which it is not accredited.

“HEA further strongly warns the general public not to enrol in any LP that has not been accredited by the Authority as their qualifications will not be recognised,” he said.