The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is working with Zambia’s Higher Education Authority (HEA) to evaluate minimum standards and their quality assurance system. COL recently met with key partners in Zambia to facilitate a workshop on open and distance learning (ODL) standards and guidelines, as well as open educational resources (OER) for the HEA. COL is also supporting ODL policy development and implementation – including capacity-building on ODL and open educational OER.

The first phase of the project commenced with a two-day workshop on 9 and 10 October 2023 for HEA staff and representatives from higher education institutions in Zambia. This workshop was facilitated by COL Adviser: Higher Education, Dr Jako Olivier.

The COL Adviser also met with a range of stakeholders, including the Minister of Education, the Honourable Mr Douglas Munsaka Syakalimato, to share details about the ongoing COL support and interactions held with national structures and different institutions in the country.

Further meetings were also held with the COL Focal Point, Dr Beatrice Machaka Botha, Director, Directorate of Open & Distance Education, Ministry of Education. In this regard, Dr Olivier noted:

“The meetings confirmed a commitment for ODL at a national level. Through the engagement with higher education stakeholders, it is evident that COL has an important role to play in opening access to education at the higher education level in Zambia.”