UBL management hosted the Ministry of Education team from the Department of University Education at its Administration Campus on September 24, 2024. The team was headed by Mr. Amos Mumba, Director of the Department accompained by Mr. Brian Makufela, an Executive Officer. The team was on a routine monitoring and famiraliazation tour of both public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). UBL Vice Chancellor Prof. Inyambo Mwanawina welcomed the team together with the Deputy Vice Chancellor Dr. Greg Mubita Kwalombota and Registrar Dr. Nerbet Makomani.
UBL operates from two sites–Administration Campus, off Mongu-Senanga road and Academic Campus, off Mongu-Lusaka road. Presently, there are five schools–Education; Humanities and Social Development; Natural Resources; Economics, Business and Law and Health Sciences. The university has three parcels of land–Simunolui to host the main campus; Lyalumba Industrial campus and Katongo university village. The university has not fully recovered form the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and management bemourned high cost of doing business in Zambia; discrimination in the award of student loans against youth who are unable to find places in public HEIs; and lack of both local research funding and funding for the education sector as a whole. There is need to open the loan scheme to all youth in need, get money into the education sector and reorienting training to respond to developmental needs of local communities and country.
The team appreciated the challenges UBL was going through. There was need for further engagement into these issues by all relevant stakeholders with a view to find a long lasting solution.