Govt takes steps on national qualifications

Davison Kaiyo Herald Reporter
Government has taken steps to operationalise the Zimbabwe National Qualifications Framework (ZNQF), which seeks to align national qualifications with regional and international standards, by allocating US$100 000 for this purpose in the 2019 National Budget presented in Parliament last week.

“US$100 000 has been set aside for the operationalisation of the Zimbabwe National Qualifications Framework, a framework that has been developed to harmonise and standardise national qualifications that meet regional and international standards,” said Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube.

ZNQF, which was launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in July this year, seeks to reform the country’s higher education system to ensure that qualifications’ attained at polytechnics and teachers’ colleges are taken into consideration when one enrols at any university.

The framework will also facilitate the transfer of credits and free movement of learners between various institutions within or outside Zimbabwe through vertical and horizontal progression pathways.

According to Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Minister Professor Amon Murwira, the framework will help to bring transparency and predictability of the country’s education system thereby earning trust from outsiders, making the education system competitive and an exportable product.

“We seek to transform our education system to make it competitive and bring transparency into it so that at the end of the day the country benefits,” said Prof Murwira.

Minister Murwira also said that the budgetary allocation is an indication that the country is taking ZNQF seriously and the nation stands to benefit in the long term.

“We are happy with the allocation and when a matter becomes a budgetary item it means the issue is being taken serious,” he said.

Prof Murwira also said that three statutory instruments have already been put in place to operationalise the framework and expects that by August 2019 Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (Zimche) would have harmonised all programs to allow for horizontal comparability and vertical mobility.