04/30/2024

Academic integrity in Zambia: A spotlight on the University of Zambia

Written by Tresford Kalunga

Academic integrity in Zambia is generally viewed as essential for maintaining standards and ensuring fairness in education. It is upheld as a cornerstone of the education system, emphasizing honesty, originality, and ethical behavior among students, educators, and researchers. Educational institutions such as assessment bodies and universities often have strict policies and procedures in place to prevent and address academic misconduct. These policies are typically enforced by institutions themselves through academic honesty codes, disciplinary measures, and educational initiatives aimed at promoting awareness.

Additionally, the Ministry of Education collaborates with these institutions to ensure that standards are maintained and students receive a quality education grounded in ethical values. Despite efforts to uphold academic integrity, challenges such as limited resources, cultural attitudes toward cheating, and the increasing availability of online resources may require ongoing vigilance and adaptation of strategies to preserve the integrity of Zambia's education system. The guidelines on plagiarism, cheating, falsification of data, collusion, and unethical research practices are crucial aspects of maintaining a fair and ethical learning environment at my institution, the University of Zambia (UNZA).

At UNZA, students are expected to submit original work and properly cite to avoid plagiarism. Lecturers often orient students on use of properly recognized citation styles. But sometimes a student will still submit an essay without properly citing sources, an act considered plagiarism. I recall very well during my undergraduate studies at UNZA how a course mate could organise ideas into a very catchy essay with properly cited wrong authors. He always scored above 90% on evaluation of his work despite it containing plagiarism. Implementing plagiarism detection software could help identify instances of plagiarism more effectively, deterring students from engaging in academic dishonesty.

The University of Zambia upholds strict regulations regarding cheating during exams. For instance, in 2018 examinations “UNZA disqualified 12 students who were caught cheating with unauthorized materials disguised on their smartphones” (Lusaka Times, 2018). Contract cheating is common at the institution too, more especially in assignment writing during the distance residential schools. You would walk into the university and see how adverts for assignment writing are indiscriminately posted on trees, walls, and notice boards. If this vice did not exist, those who continued to advertise would be discouraged from doing so and the trend could have died naturally. In order to address the issue of contract cheating, especially during distance residential schools, it would require proactive measures such as monitoring and enforcement of policies against advertisement of assignment writing services.

Another problem is sex-for-grades lecturer-student affairs which might have not been reported at the institution before but have made headlines at the country’s second largest public university, Copperbelt University (Lusaka Times, 2023). It is not common that male lecturers would report acts of sexual inducement by female students, but might give good grades for knowledge and skills not earned. Addressing cases of sexual misconduct, including "sex-for-grades" incidents, necessitates a supportive reporting mechanism and decisive action against perpetrators to create a safer learning environment.

In research-oriented disciplines at UNZA, students and faculty members are expected to uphold high standards of research integrity, respect for human subjects, and adherence to ethical principles. So, research must pass through the Directorate of Research and Graduate Studies at proposal level for ethical clearance before it is carried out. Besides, peer review processes and institutional oversight are put in place as mechanisms for detecting and preventing falsification of data in research projects. While collaboration is encouraged for group assignments, clear guidelines should be provided to ensure that students understand the boundaries between collaboration and collusion, and to prevent unintentional breaches of academic integrity.

In summary, matters of academic integrity are highly relevant to the University of Zambia and are enforced through clear policies, guidelines, and disciplinary measures. Upholding these principles ensures fairness, honesty, and accountability within the academic community at UNZA.

References
Lusaka Times (2018). Cheating among university students worry Zanasu. Available at https://www.lusakatimes.com/2018/12/17/cheating-among-university-students-worry-zanasu/

Lusaka Times (2023). CBU lecturer nabbed for sexual gratification. Available at https://www.lusakatimes.com/2023/10/06/cbu-lecturer-nabbed-for-sexual-gratification/

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