BY ZIKOMO MATOPE
DMI St John the Baptist main campus in Mangochi has been suspended from offering diplomas and bachelors degrees in education with immediate effect, National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has announced.
NCHE spokeswoman Priscilla Namisika confirmed the development saying her corporation was mandated to promote quality assurance as far as academic matters in institutions of higher learning is concerned.
“The idea is to make sure that Malawians are getting quality higher education. We always want to ensure that institutions are in compliance with the minimum standards set in relation to the provisions of the NCHE Act,” Namisika said.
A statement on Wednesday, which ShireTimes has seen, points out that, among others, there are shortfalls as regards student admission, staff competence, teaching practice and other requisite academic procedures.
NCHE has directed that the University must not enroll new students for the Diploma in Education and Bachelor of Education programmes until all identified concerns are addressed and a re-assessment is done.
DMI St John the Baptist University has been given 21 days to submit an improved plan 90 days to prepare for re-assessment of the concerned programmes.
“The University should prepare for the renewal of accreditation of all the programs which were accredited in 2016 and whose crediting period has expired within 90 days and the university should address gaps in the areas of criteria for student’s admission, assessment administration, staff complement and staff recruitment process and procedures,” reads part of the statement.
In September last year, NCHE opened investigations against DMI St John the Baptist University over allegations that education quality at the institution was compromised.
