Earth Science Education in Zambia

Mining in Zambia has been practised for centuries, and in the last 70 years Zambia has risen to become one of the world's leading Cu producers as a result of the exploitation of the Zambian Copperbelt orebodies. In contrast to this long history of mining, Zambia has a relatively short history of Earth Science Education. For the past 24 years, the earth sciences have been taught within the School of Mines in University of Zambia. The School started operation on 1st June, 1973, with the purpose of training professional geologists, extractive metallurgical/mineral processing engineers and mining engineers to service the needs of the mining industry in Zambia.The School consists of three departments — Geology, Metallurgy and Mineral Processing, and Mining Engineering — which deliver a five-year undergraduate programme. Students are admitted to the School after completing a one-year programme in the School of Natural Sciences of the University of Zambia. Students with an average of C+ or better in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics are admitted into the School of Mines.The School of Mines has a total of 36 teaching positions — 12 for each Department. To successfully complete their course, students must pass 40 courses over a period of five years. During this time, industrial training is mandatory in the vacation periods after the third and fourth years of study. This training is mainly within the mining industry who in most cases sponsor the students for their studies in the School.The School admits 50 students on average per year, of whom five students take up Geology as a career. So far only two female students have studied in the School of Mines, both of them in Geology. The student to staff ratio in the Geology Department is 3 to 1. The low enrolment in Geology is thought to be because of a lack of knowledge of geology as a possible career by prospective students and a perceived lack of progression, once employed in industry. This has lead to a ‘Geoscience in Schools’ project with the main aim of making secondary school students aware of geology as a career.The Geology Department enjoys close co-operation with geology departments in a number of universities around the world, with industry, government ministries and regional bodies. It is hoped that the current increase in employment prospects for Geology graduates in Zambia will attract more students to geology as a career.