No university has been downgraded – Luo

Higher Education Minister Nkandu Luo says no single university in Zambia has been downgraded to a college status by Oxford University contrary to social media rumors.

In a ministerial statement on the alleged downgrading of university in Zambia to college status, Professor Luo says it is not possible for a single university in the United Kingdom to downgrade all university in Zambia.

She says the requirements for a candidate to obtain a Rhodes scholarship for study at Oxford University did not refer to the downgrading of any university in Zambia.

Professor Luo explains that the requirement by the Rhodes scholarship selection committee for a Zambian scholar to get additional qualifications in the neighboring countries was necessitated by the difference in the grading of qualifications between Zambia and the UK with regard to honours degrees.

She says additional requirements of an additional year to obtain honours qualification outside Zambia does not mean downgrading of Zambian universities, but that this is necessitated by the structure of the Zambian education system.