Government Aims to Increase Higher Education Enrollment to 15% by 2025 – Mutati

Minister of Technology and Science says Government is targeting to increase enrolments for higher education institutions from the current 7 percent to 15 percent by 2025/2026.

Officiating at the 12th Graduation Ceremony for Eden University in Lusaka, Felix Mutati said this is why government is investing in teachers as well as infrastructure and providing a conductive environment for higher education to thrive.

Mr. Mutati stated that government wants to ensure that a larger part of the adult population is educated in a bid to promote literacy.

He noted educated people hold the key to finding solutions to the many challenges the country is facing.
Graduates are key to finding innovative solutions to the energy, climate change and poverty issues the country is facing.”

“The graduation of students from over 20 countries at Eden University shows how attractive the Zambian education system is to students from other countries,” Mr. Mutati said.

He assured that government will continue to support the education system to ensure that it helps in the development of the country.

Mr. Mutati urged the 1,191 graduates to help government resolve some of the challenges the country is facing.

And Eden University President Kelvin Kaunda urged government to consider extending bursaries and student loans to private institutions of higher learning.

Mr. Kaunda noted that students in private institutions face financial challenges, therefore they deserve to access the government loans to support their education.

“Some students opt to study in private institutions because certain courses are not offered by public universities and colleges which have government bursaries and loans,” Mr. Kaunda noted.

The 12th Graduation Ceremony for Eden University saw 1,191 students being conferred with Diplomas, Bachelors and Masters Degrees in various fields such as Clinical Medicine, Environmental Health, Human Biology and Medicine General.