The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has suspended Diploma in Education and Bachelor of Education programmes for DMI St John the Baptist University in Mangochi over the university’s failure to comply with minimum standards especially in areas of student admission and teaching practice.
According to a statement released by NCHE, the university has been banned from enrolling any new students for Diploma and Bachelor’s Degree in Education until all identified concerns are addressed and re-assessment is conducted to assure that the minimum standards have been met.
DMI St. John the Baptist University has since been told to submit an improvement plan within 21 days and prepare for re-assessment of the concerned programmes within 90 days.
The University is also required to prepare for renewal of accreditation of all the programmes which were accredited in 2016 and whose accreditation period has expired. NCHE says this should be done within the same period of 90 days.
“The University should address gaps in areas of criteria for students admission, assessment, administration, staff complement and staff recruitment processes and procedures,” reads part of the statement.
NCHE has since advised all higher education institutions to comply with NCHE standards.
National Council for Higher Education Act No 15 of 2011 (the NCHE Act) gives mandate to the Council to regulate higher education in Malawi. One of the core functions of the National Council for Higher Education (the Council) as provided for under sections 19, 20, 28 and 29 of the NCHE Act is to register and accredit higher education institutions and their academic programmes.
