Zimbabwe Open University celebrates 10 years in Matabeland North

THE Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), which is this year celebrating 10 years in Matabeleland North, has significantly transformed the province through human capital development.

The open and distance learning tertiary institution opened its Matabeleland North regional office in Hwange in 2014 and over the years, it has spread to the district level where it has opened branches.

ZOU, Lupane State University (LSU), Hwange Teachers’ College, and Binga Polytechnic are the tertiary institutions in the largely rural province.

In addition to offering degrees and postgraduate studies, ZOU also offers diplomas and certificates for short courses, which have helped capacitate and equip scores of professionals and community members with skills.

Speaking during the ZOU certification of 1 682 graduates who underwent training in various short courses in a programme spearheaded by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa through her Angel of Hope Foundation, ZOU Matabeleland North region director Dr Douglas Gasva said plans are underway to open branches in Lupane, Nkayi and Tsholotsho as part of decentralising their services.

“We have had an impact in our province because if you move around you would find that school heads have done degrees in educational management without having to leave their schools but just study while in their schools,” he said.

“Nurses have degrees in nursing and now they are tutors and a lot of other professionals have furthered their education without leaving work. So we have made an impact in our community even in rural areas because we have moved into districts like Binga and Victoria Falls and we are intending moving to Lupane, Nkayi and Tsholotsho.”

The Victoria Falls branch also services Livingstone in Zambia across the river.

“Our approach is that we want to reach out to people. We try as an institution to take education to the doorstep of the people through open and distance learning. So we look forward to expanding our wings to Zambia as we have had people coming to Victoria Falls to register and study while in Zambia and come for exams in Hwange.”

Dr Gasva said the fact that Dr Mnangagwa partnered with ZOU rubberstamps the university’s importance in the education sector and Matabeleland North in particular.

“As you saw we had a function here certificating people who trained in short courses that we offer as ZOU in partnership with Angel of Hope Foundation. We certificated a large number of people, 1 683 which is double the number last year 726,” he said.

“So, we have made an impact and from our presentation, people are celebrating and we hope they get empowered with their families. We are in Matabeleland North and I can confirm that in 2024 it will be 10 years since we moved from Bulawayo. We are now based in Hwange serving seven districts in the province where we offer quite several courses in different faculties.”

ZOU has faculties such as Commerce, Education, Arts, Culture and Heritage Studies; Applied Social Sciences, Science, Agriculture and Technology.

There are short courses, undergraduate, postgraduate, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy under these courses.

“In all these faculties and departments, we provide open and distance learning to communities and young people who have just completed Ordinary and Advanced levels. Our niche and biggest advantage at ZOU is that one can learn while in the comfort of their homes or workplaces since we are an open and distance learning institution,” Dr Gasva

“We don’t have on-campus lectures, but we have tutorials which we offer on Saturdays and our modus operandi is that we offer six hours per every course but the rest is covered through a module which students study through.”

The Matabeleland North campus is one of the 10 regional campuses countrywide.

Chief Whange commended ZOU for bringing educational opportunities closer to the people.

He challenged people in Matabeleland North to take advantage of the university and access education to improve their lives.

“We urge employers, including Government and the private sector to reciprocate the efforts of ZOU in developing the province by employing locals who have undergone training at the university,” said Chief Whange.