Zambian study woes hit 91 Namibians
The health ministry will send a delegation to Zambia this week to investigate the reasons behind two tertiary institutions in the neighbouring country withdrawing courses in which 91 Namibian medical students are enrolled.
Health acting permanent secretary Petronella Masabane said the ministry was alerted about the situation by the Namibian High Commission in Zambia.
Masabane will lead a delegation to Zambia this week, comprising of representatives from the Health Professions Councils of Namibia and the University of Namibia (Unam) School of Medicine, to assess the situation and take appropriate action.
The ministry assured parents and the public it will not allow this adverse situation to negatively impact the performance of the students and its human resources programme.
The Lusaka Times reported that the Health Professions Council of Zambia had withdrawn the approval certificates for some health-related programmes, which are being offered at the Lusaka Apex Medical University in Lusaka and Cavendish University.
This follows serious violations that were discovered during the last compliance monitoring exercise conducted on 17 October last year, after which the Health Professions Council of Zambia wrote to the affected institutions to address the violations.
However, the last inspection conducted on 21 May revealed even more serious violations than those discovered earlier.
According to the Lusaka Times, at the Apex University the programmes withdrawn are the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and the Bachelor of Science in Radiography, on the grounds that the dean of the university does not have a postgraduate qualification.
The school also has 740 students, but only five fulltime lecturers, four of whom do not quality to teach.
At Cavendish University, the programmes withdrawn are for the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Science in Clinical Sciences, on the grounds that some teaching staff do not have Health Professions Council of Zambia practicing certificates, while the university has no policy on occupational health and safety and does not have laboratories at the campus, among other reasons.
The Bachelor of Science and Chemical Medicine, as well as the Bachelor of Science in Public Health, were also withdrawn.
ELLANIE SMIT
Health acting permanent secretary Petronella Masabane said the ministry was alerted about the situation by the Namibian High Commission in Zambia.
Masabane will lead a delegation to Zambia this week, comprising of representatives from the Health Professions Councils of Namibia and the University of Namibia (Unam) School of Medicine, to assess the situation and take appropriate action.
The ministry assured parents and the public it will not allow this adverse situation to negatively impact the performance of the students and its human resources programme.
The Lusaka Times reported that the Health Professions Council of Zambia had withdrawn the approval certificates for some health-related programmes, which are being offered at the Lusaka Apex Medical University in Lusaka and Cavendish University.
This follows serious violations that were discovered during the last compliance monitoring exercise conducted on 17 October last year, after which the Health Professions Council of Zambia wrote to the affected institutions to address the violations.
However, the last inspection conducted on 21 May revealed even more serious violations than those discovered earlier.
According to the Lusaka Times, at the Apex University the programmes withdrawn are the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and the Bachelor of Science in Radiography, on the grounds that the dean of the university does not have a postgraduate qualification.
The school also has 740 students, but only five fulltime lecturers, four of whom do not quality to teach.
At Cavendish University, the programmes withdrawn are for the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Science in Clinical Sciences, on the grounds that some teaching staff do not have Health Professions Council of Zambia practicing certificates, while the university has no policy on occupational health and safety and does not have laboratories at the campus, among other reasons.
The Bachelor of Science and Chemical Medicine, as well as the Bachelor of Science in Public Health, were also withdrawn.
ELLANIE SMIT
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article