BY ADRIAN MWANZA
THE 99 percent poor results at the Zambia Institute of Legal Education (ZIALE) is too serious to ignore and there is need for Government to set up a commission of inquiry to look into this matter, former Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba has demanded.
Mr Kabimba, who is also Economic Front Secretary General said it was unrealistic to blame the students for the continued poor results at ZIALE when they were coming from the best higher learning institution in the country where only the best were selected.
In an interview, Mr Kabimba said the government should setup a commission which would enable stakeholders look in this matter which had continued to puzzle people.
He said there had been an uproar from various people who wanted to know what the real problem was concerning the poor results that were being recorded at ZIALE every year.
Mr Kabimba said this was not time for finger pointing but one that needed concerted efforts from all stakeholders like the government, universities and even students.
“For me, I am appealing to Government to just set up a commission of inquiry to look at this matter holistically where ZIALE can present their case, colleges and universities and even government so that we can find a lasting solution,” he said.
He said that he was aware that ZIALE examinations were difficult but that the problem started with the mushrooming of private universities dotted around the country.
Mr Kabimba said that most students were not ready for the ZIALE examinations and that the curriculum was tailored in a manner that all students had been given the fundamental knowledge needed.
He said the problem was that most institutions did not live up to the standard of UNZA students who at least had a fundamental background hence making it easy to sail through.
“This problem at ZIALE started in the 1990’s after private universities started mushrooming in the country unlike in our time we only had 35 students which also comprised the former head of state Edgar Chagwa Lungu,” he said.
Mr Kabimba said he was optimistic that an inquiry would be called to put this matter to rest once and for all because the pace at which the students were failing did not leave much to be desired.
