By HAPPY MULOLANI
ETABLISHED
in 1965, the University of Zambia is undeniably the oldest University in
Zambia. Currently, it is ranked sixth in Africa, which is a remarkable
achievement in the academic arena. The University continues to make drastic
strides in achieving academic excellence as one of the schools embarked on
reviewing its curriculum to meet the industry demands.
One
of the University’s schools, School of Agricultural Sciences began the process
of curriculum review in 2010, with the support of MUSIKA, whose aim is to
making agricultural markets work for smallholder farmers in rural areas. The
idea of this curriculum review is to ensure they respond to the market demands.
The
school constituted a team of experts which includes; school staff, industry
players, stakeholders and agro players. This was to ensure that a comprehensive
review of the curriculum is conducted to meet the gaps encountered over the
years. Suffice to state that the last curriculum review was conducted in 2010.
The
objective of reviewing the curriculum is based on the fact that courses are
tailor made to respond to the market demands and enhance agriculture
entrepreneurship. The other aim is to ensure that this effort translates into
strengthening the practical components of the current curriculum.
Given
this background, experts in the School of Agricultural Sciences from the
University of Zambia, stakeholders and other industry players in the
agriculture sector convened at Pamodzi hotel in Lusaka recently to validate the
curriculum review, a journey they began last year.
Dean
of School of Agricultural Sciences, Benson Chishala emphasized that the aim of
the curriculum review was to work with partners in bringing positive changes in
meeting the industry demands.
Dr
Chishala explained that the school was forging partnerships with the farming
community, agro related industries, Zambezi Ranching and other big corporations
who are in the actual production until the level of processing.
“We seek to bring partners into curriculum
review that they know changes we want to have and this should speak to their
concerns. This is key and we want to incorporate their views in the curriculum,”
said Dr Chishala.
He
also acknowledged the enormous efforts conducted by the team of experts, which
was led by Dr Benson Mwenya, with representation from five departments across
the school.
“The
participation in the review of the curriculum was conducted by staff in the
School of Agricultural Sciences including the Assistant Dean,” Dr Chishala
said.
He
also paid gratitude to MUSIKA for the resources and involvement in the whole
process which is aimed at improving the welfare of the agriculture sector.
Vice
Chancellor Annie Sikwibele explained that curriculum review was a very
important process in response to its relevance to industry demands.
“Curriculum
reviews are supposed to be conducted every five years. It’s important to have a
curriculum which effectively responds to the needs of the society,” Professor Sikwibele
said.
He
indicated that the core business of the University is to offer teaching and
promote excellence and committment in training graduates as well as perform
challenging tasks in the ever changing economy, which necessitates promoting curriculum
change in all schools.
Professor
Sikwibele commended the school for its initiative which was in line with the
strategic plan. He stressed that schools and units must identify with
beneficial partners.
Professor
Sikwibele encouraged all other schools to emulate the School of Agricultural Sciences
efforts, noting that this process will ensure graduates are end users and also
have opinions in order to concretise its focus of review.
“Emphasis
on practical component and incorporation of entrepreneurial courses in the
curriculum, will assure quality graduates are churned out. When graduates are
equipped with business skills, they can start up their own enterprises and
avoid being dependent on looking for employment…what we need is graduates who
will use skills gained and also employ others. This will help address the
current employment challenges in the country,” Prof Sikwibele said.
Professor
Borniface Namangala was speaking on behalf of UNZA Vice Chancellor, Annie
Sikwibele.
MUSIKA
Research Officer, Mwimbu Ngoma appreciated the school’s determination in
strengthening the curriculum review by bringing entrepreneurship in the
programmes offered, as it directly addresses the business market system in the
industry.
Mr
Ngoma congratulated UNZA for its tireless efforts, particularly through the
curriculum review process and incorporating business focused courses, as this
conforms to MUSIKA’s outputs.
“One
of the deliverables of MUSIKA is staff handling market systems. As we
contribute towards curriculum reform, it will bring in key business components,
even as students are taught farming as a business,” Mr Ngoma explained.
One
of the expert team member, Hendrick Chalwe explained that during the curriculum
review, some concerns raised where the school was churning out graduates who
were not well prepared to handle challenges in the field.
“We
can only improve on that by working with partners, by participating in
trainings on quality of graduates… Henceforth, we need to get views from the
sector and also passionate appeal to participate which will determine the
quality of graduates we will have,” Dr Chalwe pointed out.
While,
another expert, Chewe Nkonde indicated that some courses were incorporated and
mainly focused on making the programmes offered in the school more practical.
This has seen the introduction of entrepreneurship courses, which ultimately strengthens
the courses offered.
“Although
a curriculum review was last undertaken in 2010, many challenges in the
industry had been identified. Hence the review process aimed at tackling the
compliance of the programmes to meet the market demands,” Dr Nkonde observed.
He
stressed the need to build an entrepreneurship culture among the graduates to
enable them be employers and innovators. This will lessen the burden of
graduates perpetually having a mind-set of looking for employment amid limited job
prospects once they graduate from university.
Professor
Venon Chinene, commended the efforts of the experts and key players in the
agriculture sector.
Professor
Chinene, who is also a Soil Fertility Champion, noted that the curriculum was
well executed in terms of incorporation of entrepreneurship. However, he
advised that there is need to integrate climate smart agriculture and
agroecology.
While
the curriculum review takes five years, the school should not wait for the
stipulated period to integrate the other areas which are key to enhancing
productivity.
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