Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
A consortium of health students unions and associations has challenged the Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) to halt the forthcoming licensure examinations for health students in institutions of higher learning.
Some of the unions and associations represented are the University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU) Ridgeway Campus, Zambia Medical Students Association and the Levy Mwanawasa Medical University Students Union.
Speaking on behalf of the consortium, UNZASU Ridgeway Campus Students Union President, Chimuka Simoonga says the reintroduction of the licensure examinations has a hidden agenda of trimming the number of graduates and not necessarily to ascertain the quality of students before getting their licenses.
Mr. Simoonga has told a media briefing in Lusaka today that students have been undergoing standardized assessments which were set by established institutions, hence bringing back licensure exams means that those who were mandated to set standards have failed.
He says they will be formally writing to HPCZ and the higher education authority (HEA) to request them to rescind the decision of conducting licensure examinations because HPCZ is no longer mandated by law to do so.
Speaking at the same event, Resident Doctors Association of Zambia President, Dr. Brian Sampa says the fact that HPCZ is saying there has been poor quality in the health sector is an indirect admission of their failure to execute their mandate when it was tasked to regulate, register and ensure quality in students.