Our qualifications must be recognised within SADC – ZAQA

The Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA) has called for a comprehensive overhaul of regional referencing guidelines to guarantee the seamless recognition of Zambian academic and professional qualifications across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc. Speaking during the official opening of a three-day SADC Qualifications Framework Technical Working Group workshop in Lusaka, ZAQA Board Chairperson Professor Victor Zulu emphasized that current regulatory disconnects impose unnecessary hurdles on regional graduates. Many Zambian professionals seeking employment or further studies abroad continue to face frustrating bottlenecks, including mandatory secondary examinations and prolonged credential evaluations. Professor Zulu stressed that true regional economic integration remains incomplete without the unfettered mobility of skilled labor. When professionals trained in Lusaka, Kitwe, or Ndola are forced to jump through bureaucratic hoops to validate their expertise in neighboring countries, the overarching vision of SADC integration suffers. The ongoing technical workshop brings together regional delegates to harmonize qualification standards, streamline referencing frameworks, and establish mutual trust among member states' educational systems. This push for regional alignment follows a series of domestic regulatory tightening measures by ZAQA, which has aggressively stepped up verification mandates to weed out fraudulent and unaccredited credentials locally. While domestic policing of standards has ramped up protection for employers and genuine students alike, education experts argue that external bottlenecks demand coordinated diplomatic and legislative efforts. Stakeholders point out that regional standardization will not only protect Zambian qualifications from unfair devaluation abroad but also make the country a more competitive hub for educational tourism and cross-border skills exchange. As the technical working group finalizes its roadmap