By PETER SICHALI
THE Higher Education Authority (HEA) is in the process of taking legal action against universities and colleges operating illegally, acting director general Vitalicy Chifwepa has warned.
Dr Chifwepa said the authority would continue with its surveillance programme and ensure institutions of higher learning operating illegally were prosecuted in line with the law.
Dr Chifwepa said the HEA will this week start legal action against 10 Universities that had been operating illegally.
“As the procedure demands, we published names of 10 institutions that have been illegally operating and the second step is prosecution,” Dr Chifwepa said.
Dr Chifwepa said the HEA legal team had taken up the matter and would start the legal process against erring universities.
Dr Chifwepa has advised the public to always ask for registration credentials of institutions before enrolling for any programme.
He said so many people had lost money by enrolling with universities that were not recognised by HEA.
The authority, he said, has scaled up surveillance to ensure members of public were protected from bogus universities and colleges.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) released the names of 10 unregistered and unrecognised universities that are operating illegally in Lusaka, Kitwe, Choma, Katete and Mongu.
The 10 institutions are Ballsbridge University, Bangweulu National University, El-Bright University, Epic University, Greenpark University College, Paragon Technical University,
Pyramid University, Southern Africa Institute of Technology University College (SAITUC)
World-class University and Yesbud University.
According to the Higher Education Act No. 4 of 2013 Part IV Section 15 (1), a person shall not operate a private Higher Education Institution (HEI) unless the private HEI is registered under this Act, noting in Section 15 (2) that a person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million penalty units or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years, or to both.
