Quality Assurance in Zambian Higher Education: A New Dawn

The increase in the number of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly private institutions, has led to increased demand for higher educational standards and better quality. To achieve globally acceptable standards, many countries and regional blocs have set up national and regional quality assurance frameworks to set quality criteria and standards to be followed by all affiliate institutions. In Zambia, the government through the ministry of education regulated and audited HEIs until 2013 when the Higher Education Authority (HEA) was set up by an act of parliament. In this review, the functions and accreditation requirements of the HEA in Zambia are analysed together with the macro and micro-levels of quality assurance standards set by the HEA. Finally, the HEA is assessed against the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) Guidelines of Good Practice to check its compliance with international guidelines.