COVID-19 has caused major disruptions in the way engineering education is conducted all over the world. The impact has been greater in developing countries that still lack the necessary tools for pandemic-based training. In this work, we carry out a survey on three public universities based in Zambia. The survey investigates the impact of COVID-19 on engineering education in the study country. Visible in our findings are the challenges developing countries are experiencing towards effectively training engineers in these volatile times. Furthermore, we analyse the critical lessons learnt and provide useful insights for the engineering education stakeholders to consider. Information uncovered in this work puts us face to face with the stark reality that there is a need for adequate preparedness in times of global pandemics for engineering education.