Committee wants NCHE clarifications
Parliament’s Education Committee has asked National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to clarify the future of current students and graduates of universities delisted or courses discredited.
Committee chairperson Elias Chakwera presented a report to the House yesterday on the committee’s activities in 2015/16 which included visits to various education facilities, among them primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
While commending the NCHE accreditation process, Chakwera said the process still left room for improvement, especially on the way forward.
He said: “When you publish [a list of] universities which are not accredited and reject courses, what are you saying about those students who had enrolled or those who have these qualifications? People are still waiting to hear on these issues?”
Chakwera also said NCHE should establish clear guidelines for the establishment of universities to avoid students and proprietors being taken by surprise.
The committee also called for the speedy review of the University of Malawi Act of 1998 to be in line with the Act which established NCHE.
On students in private and public universities following the revocation of licences and failure to accredit some programmes, NCHE has said its mandate ends at accrediting universities and the courses.
Institutions not accredited include State-owned Malawi College of Accountancy (MCA) and private universities such as African Bible College (ABC) in Lilongwe, Exploits University, Skyway University, Blantyre International University (BIU), Columbia Commonwealth University and Africa University of Guidance, Counselling and Youth Development (AUGCYD).
The council has also accredited with conditions some programmes at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must)—one of the country’s four functional public universities, Catholic University of Malawi (Cunima), DMI St John the Baptist University, Nkhoma University and the College of Medicine (CoM), a University of Malawi (Unima) constituent college. n
