Chronicle Editor
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
AT independence in 1980, Zimbabwe inherited a single higher education institution, the University of Zimbabwe which was established as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and was an affiliate of the University of London in 1955.
The institution was later renamed the University of Rhodesia, the University of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, and finally the University of Zimbabwe.
According to Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe and Juliet Thondhlana in their paper — Higher Education Systems and Institutions in Zimbabwe, the university had a strategic relationship with the parent universities — the University of Birmingham for Medicine and the University of London for all other programmes that ensured that quality was well regulated.
The curricula and qualifications were modelled along British standards, thereby attracting high-calibre staff, technical assistance, and funding from Europe.
As a result, the qualifications awarded were akin to those of British universities but it had a serious racial bias.
Unlike universities in the region, which required lower entry level, the college’s entry qualifications required advanced A-level passes.
A constitution that favoured “white” citizens (inclusive of Europeans, Asians, and Coloureds people of mixed races ahead of blacks was passed in 1961.
In a nutshell it was an institution for the white Rhodesians where blacks were segregated. Consequently, given the skewed policy context, the student body was predominantly white, with a mere 0,2 percent of black students having the opportunity for entry into university.
The few blacks who received university education trained for lower status jobs compared to their white counterparts. Upon gaining independence, the new government introduced aggressive policy reforms to address colonial inequalities and anomalies, as well as to satisfy the growing need for a workforce with high-level qualifications.
In a wide-ranging interview, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Prof Amon Murwira said after Independence the Government increased the number of universities from one in 1990 to 24 registered public and private universities.
It also put in place reforms in the areas of planning and efficiency, quality and relevance, as well as curricula development.
He said increased access to education at all levels by the general populace was made possible and Zimbabwe became a regional leader in education, earning the country a good reputation internationally.
According to UNECA (2018), Zimbabwe is the best-educated country in Africa, with literacy levels in excess of 94 percent.
Prof Murwira however, indicated that although literacy rate was not necessarily the perfect indicator of achievement in education, it is invaluable in raising awareness in issues affecting the quality of life.
“The country has realised a steady progress in education. We are the most literate nation in Africa from a literate rate of 10 percent at independence to over 94 percent, if you don’t call that a milestone achievement, then what is it,” quizzed Prof Murwira.
He said Zimbabwe’s policy reforms also resulted in the churning out of highly qualified professionals becoming a renowned manpower world over.
Other notable developments included the expansion of higher education institutions in line with the country’s socio-economic requirements and the heightened focus on quality.
The expansion took the form of increased enrolments due to introduction of public and private institutions, and the introduction of new faculties, departments, and programmes as well as introduction of diverse and student-oriented modes of education delivery inclusive of open and distance learning.
The minister noted that the country boasts of 24 registered universities, 14 public and 10 private universities. Consistent with the Zimbabwean definition of higher education institutions, five of the 12 polytechnics and three of the 15 teachers that add to the more than 100 public and private colleges offer degree programmes in association with registered universities.
The phenomenal expansion of higher education institutions was properly planned to include a sharp focus on quality. This resulted in the establishment of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in 1990, a non-autonomous body to process applications from prospective higher education institutions.
In 2006, a more robust semi-autonomous body with an expanded quality assurance mandate, the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (Zimche), replaced the NCHE.
It is charged with the responsibility to monitor and evaluate the performance of institutions through registration, accreditation, and academic audits; harmonisation of quality assurance systems and procedures; quality promotion; as well as advisory services.
Prof Murwira said there was need for a Damascene moment where education needed to be developed systematically in line with the country’s socio-economic projections.
He said education should always provide solutions to the country’s problems, something he said was not really happening in the country.
“We need a complete paradigm shift in the country’s higher education system as the education is contributing to uselessness with 98 percent of the people only good at reading and writing while 38 percent are equipped with skills.
“This country has been subjected to systematic destruction of the confidence of its people. The issue now is how do we construct and reconstruct the confidence of our people.
We need to turn the corner. We need to move away from being beggars to producers. The aim of our education should be to modernise and industrialise this county,” he posited.
He said it was worrying that the country’s universities and colleges were detached from the society they were intended to transform.
“We want to create a connection between our communities and the universities so that each university serves a purpose of transforming the community.
That is why we are introducing innovation hubs, these are not buildings as people may be misled into believing. It’s a concept that is of course aided by a building,” said Prof Murwira.
He said a lot of graduates complain that there are no jobs yet the country is facing a myriad of problems which require people to put their brains and skills to work and provide jobs for themselves in the process of solving the crisis.
The minister added that they were moving away from the education design 3.0 which was colonial to education system 5.0 which liberates the scope to do innovations that help industrialise and modernise the country.
“Education has to have a purpose and benefits. We don’t want people who go through higher education and come back looking for jobs.
Education should create solutions and not add to the problem. We see graduates getting into the streets demanding jobs yet we expect them to create jobs.”
He said the Government had also moved miles in addressing the issue of accessibility to higher and tertiary education through granting educational loans.
Minister Murwira said President Mnangagwa was sincere about turning the country’s fortunes around adding that the developments in the education sector were supposed to anchor the revival of industry and bring solutions to the myriad of problems the country was facing.
Online Reporter