Achieving a dream in China

Desire Ncube and Tafadzwa Kadani
The dream of hanging a piece of paper on the wall, certifying that one has completed years of study at a university, is one that many children at Advanced Level have. But a university education is expensive. However, thanks to Government’s Look East policy, some A-Level students can now benefit from scholarships to study Medicine, Law, Engineering, Film and other areas at some 300 Chinese universities.

From 2017, thousands of students from Southern Africa will get such scholarships, according to the Chinese Company Study in China Admission System (Sicas). Sicas has opened an office in Harare to help prospective students to access scholarships in China from renowned universities such as Wenzhou University, Shandong-Jiaotong University and China University of Petroleum.

This year, about 200 students benefited from various scholarships to study in one of the world’s biggest economies. Some of the students left the country last week for China for the September/October intake. Sicas Zimbabwe business development director, Mr Joy Khosa, said his team was working tirelessly to assist students to secure scholarships.

“We want our students to benefit as much from the cordial relationship between Zimbabwe and China. As a leading country in technology we hope our students will learn a lot,” he said. “Most scholarships are partial and self-funded. The full scholarships are specifically for the under-privileged and high-performing students.”

According to the scholarship prospectus, some of the universities offer partial and others full scholarships.

“Most parents are overwhelmed and excited at this opportunity for their children to study in a first world country which has remarkable technological advancements,” said Mr Khosa. This comes at a time when Government — through the Higher and Tertiary Education Ministry — is encouraging students to take up sciences and Mathematics.

Through Sicas, Zimbabwean students are now able to secure places for Bachelors, Masters and PhD programmes. Studying in China will give students that are gifted in software designing, application development and software engineering, among others, a chance to learn from the best. Some of the degree programmes that have scholarships include law, international law, economics, accounting, biotechnology, chemical and mechanical engineering.

ICTs have become the leading investment avenue in most countries, especially with the increasing demand for mobile applications. According to Gartner, Inc – an American research and advisory firm — by the end of 2017, market demand for mobile app development services will grow at least five times faster than internal IT organisations’ capacity to deliver them.

Gartner forecasts mobile phone sales will reach 2,1 billion units by 2019, which will fuel demand for apps in the enterprise that meet the high performance and usability of consumer apps. Some of the students that are currently studying in China also get internship programmes in leading ICT companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) software company. The Sicas team also helps parents and students with information on affordable flights and to get accommodation in upmarket, reasonably-priced dormitories.

Speaking from China, some of the students could not hide their excitement.

“The learning facilities here are impeccable, and the welcome is great. We felt at home away from home. The facilities here are really futuristic with features such as e-libraries and 3D learning facilities only to mention a few,” said one of the students.

Sicas international CEO Ms Lulu Zhang said, “With over 300 universities in China controlled by this application system for China-Zimbabwe, we really hope to see more Zimbabwean students joining us here in China.” Students with nine points at Advanced Level are legible to access a package which caters for 100 percent tuition and accommodation for selected universities. However, food, airfare, insurance, medical check and immigration formalities are not covered by the scholarship.

Students who then get to study in China through Sicas will be assisted with attachments for selected degree programmes. Currently there are several local students who have been finding it difficult to get internship programmes, forcing some to defer their studies. Placement for the March 2017 intake is open for applicants who want to study Bachelors, Masters or PhD programmes.