Throughout Zambia, institutions of higher education have been facing a multitude of problems for years. Because a host of governmental issues have prevented any real progress from being made, officials recently decided to start promoting public private partnerships (PPP) in an effort to finally try to meet some of the needs that have been overlooked.

As a result of this project, the University of Zambia is scheduled to receive a three-star hotel, student and staff housing, and a business park constructed on their campus. The initial investment in this project ranges between $60 and $90 million (US). This new project will be a huge boost to the university simply because in recent years they have been unable to provide a sufficient amount of housing to their students.

In addition, the University of Zambia will also profit from these ventures once they are in place. The business park will provide the school with some much needed revenue, which will in turn help the school to become more self-sufficient over the next few years. If more universities throughout Zambia can find the resources or financial backing to make similar investments in their campuses, it could prove to be a huge boon to all of them in the long run.

In another positive move, the government in Zambia is planning to create a new university that will train health professionals. There is currently a drastic shortage of doctors, nurses, and other essential health care personnel throughout the country, and officials have been debating for quite some time how best to try to solve the problem. Current estimates place the number of health care professionals in Zambia at approximately 27,000, and the need is about 56,000. Obviously, there is much work to be done if this gap is going to be closed within the next few years.

At the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, the nursing school has already been expanded. The result of this move was a doubling in the intake of nursing students. Other teaching hospitals throughout Zambia are taking similar actions in the hopes of training increasing numbers of students each year to fill the void that has been in place for so long.

The government has also implemented an incentive program for doctors. These programs provide doctors with a new vehicle, paid school fees for their children, and additional training at countries throughout the world. Recently, the incentive program was expanded to also include paramedics and nurses. While the incentive programs have certainly been popular, they are not a total solution to the many problems that exist. For example, one of the problems that has yet to be solved is how to find a sufficient number of nurses for rural areas, as many people do not want to work in such areas once they are married and/or have children.

In another positive move, the Education Ministry has signed an agreement with the University of Zambia to implement a program that will improve the qualifications of teachers throughout the country. The program will take teachers through a three-year course of study, and it will help them advance from having a diploma to a degree. This should help to improve the number of tutors available in much needed areas of study such as math and science.