Bachelor of Social Work

Supervised practical work is an integral part of the program, providing students with the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world settings. The major emphasis is on research, administration, policy, monitoring and evaluation, planning and program development, human rights and development, project management, and capacity building of staff. This comprehensive approach ensures that graduates are capable of addressing a wide range of social issues and contributing to the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

Social work education fosters civic engagement and a commitment to human rights, social justice, and advocacy. The curriculum is designed to develop professionals who are equipped to make informed decisions, assess needs, and implement effective interventions that positively impact society. By integrating knowledge from various disciplines and promoting evidence-based practices, the BSW program prepares students to adapt to the evolving needs of the communities they serve.

The Bachelor of Social Work program at the University of Zambia thus prepares students to become effective and compassionate social workers, ready to make meaningful contributions to their communities and beyond, fulfilling the strategic goals of national development and global sustainability.

The Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program addresses the urgent need for skilled social workers in Zambia, where a large portion of the population lives in poverty, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas. Social workers are essential for empowering the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized, and for bridging the gap between individuals and their environments.

This program equips students with the knowledge, values, and skills required to address bio-psycho-social and economic challenges. By integrating global events and emerging issues, the curriculum ensures that graduates can convey complex social ideas, engage in constructive dialogue, and implement proactive strategies to prevent social problems.

Supervised practical work is a key component, providing real-world experience and ensuring that graduates are prepared to make meaningful contributions to society. The BSW program at the University of Zambia is developed with stakeholder input, maintaining international standards and preparing students to be effective change agents in fostering sustainable development.

The aim of the programme is to produce a workforce that will ameliorate the vulnerability of individuals of all age groups in society through the provision of the much needed social and health services, thereby:

1. Equip students with knowledge and skills to enhance vulnerable individuals of all age groups in society and improve their well-being and empowering them to become viable individuals in society.
2. Equip students with knowledge and skills to focus on the ‘whole person’, the programme is hinged on a capacity-building approach to ensure sustainability of efforts at individual, community and national level.
3. Equip students with knowledge and skills to build resilience, reduce and delay dependency by intervening early in problem solving and provision of social, health and other essential services to meet the basic needs of individuals.

At this level of qualification (ZQF level: 7), it is expected that the graduate shall:

1. Have knowledge and critical understanding

• Discuss key issues pertaining to the well-established principles of social work
• Articulate emerging issues in social work
• Analyze the way in which those principles have developed in the country’s policy.
• Explain the rights and freedoms of vulnerable and all age groups of people in the nation and beyond.
• Analyze the theories underlying social work discipline.

2. Intellectual Skills (cognitive and creative skills)

• Develop the ability to apply underlying concepts and principles outside the context in which they were first studied.
• Develop appropriate solutions for the application of these principles in varied contexts.

3. Subject Specific Skills (Professional Skills)

• Possess communication skills, extensive and comparative knowledge
• Understanding of social work as a whole and its links to related subject(s).
• Active listening to fully concentrate, understand, respond, and remembering what the client is saying.
• Evaluate community development programmes and case studies

4. Reflective Skills

• Have knowledge of the main areas of inquiry in social work
• Ability to critically evaluate the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems.

5. Transferrable Skills

• Transfer knowledge that influences them to analyses and interpretations based on that knowledge.
• Apply a range of established techniques to initiate and undertake critical analysis of information, and to propose solutions to problems in the field of social work.
• Effectively communicate information, arguments, and analysis, in a variety of forms, to various audiences.
• Present information and transfer knowledge, skills, and values to others through delegation and practice.
• Transfer skills needed to study further with a high level of autonomy.
• Systematically establish and address personal learning needs.
• Develop existing skills and acquire new competencies to enable the assumption of significant responsibility within organizations.
• Exercise personal responsibility, initiative, and decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts.
• Autonomy well-developed judgment, adaptability, and responsibility as a practitioner or learner.
• Demonstrate some originality and creativity in formulating, evaluating, and applying evidence-based solutions and arguments within the field of social work.