The Financial Gazette
By Tabitha Mutenga
1 August 2012
Zimbabwe’s higher education is in shambles. The country’s education system has not been immune to the tense political situation and harsh socio-economic conditions that prevailed for over a decade. The once revered education system is now a shadow of its former self. Many schools and institutions of higher learning have not been operating at full capacity for years, depriving millions of students their right to quality education.
With nine state universities and already aiming for a university in every province, the country’s higher education sector is in a crisis as it aims for quantity and not quality of education. Having scored significant gains between 1980 and 2005, the sector is currently battling with a number of challenges which require urgent attention.
Zimbabwe’s higher education sector has been hard hit by the “brain drain†of the past decade. The exodus of highly skilled and experienced professionals left universities, colleges and schools facing severe shortages in manpower and resources.
Under-investment in the higher education has not only affected the quality of education but also the quality of graduates produced mainly because most schools and institutions of higher learning are without basic provisions, equipment and teaching and learning materials. Many teachers and lectures, most of them highly qualified and experienced, left the country due to low salaries and poor working conditions.
Recently, in an interview with The Financial Gazette, Education Sports and Culture Minister David Coltart lamented the loss of maths and science teachers to neighbouring countries affecting the quality of the country’s education sector.
“We lost 20 000 teachers in 2007/08 many of them were our best teachers, English, science and maths teachers and they have not come back into the service,†Coltart said.
According to a report by the country’s Parliamentary Committee on Education, universities countrywide are suffering a severe shortage of both academic and non-academic staff as a result of the brain drain — and science departments have been the most heavily hit. The report said that at the University of Zimbabwe the departments of animal science, community medicine, metallurgy and clinical pharmacology require 20, 18, 13 and 11 lecturers respectively – but had nobody in post.
“Computer science and veterinary sciences both require 13 lecturers but have only one each. Psychiatry, geo-informatics and mining engineering also have one lecturer each but require 16, 10 and eight respectively. The department of medicine has eight lectures but needs 26 while the anesthetic, statistics, anatomy and hematology departments each have two lecturers instead of 16, 11, 10 and eight respectively,†the report said.
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) national spokes-person, Zechariah Mushawatu decried the deteriorating infrastructure and educational equipment found in most tertiary institutions, emphasising the need for a clear education policy that clearly defines problems facing the sector.
“As a result of underfunding of the education sector by government, the technological equipment used in many tertiary institutions is archaic, primordial and anachronistic. The computer/student ratio at many tertiary institutions is pathetic and internet usage in many colleges is characterised by information processing that goes on at a languorous pace.
“The infrastructure at many colleges is dilapidated. While many universities are better of than other institutions in terms of buildings, some colleges such as teacher’s colleges and training centres are marginalised. The buildings and road networks at such institutions as Magamba Training Centre in Mutare are not up to standard,†Mushawatu said.
The student activist called on government to increase the amount allocated to education to a minimum of 15 percent of the national budget to allow the revival of higher and tertiary education.
“As ZINASU, we demand that the government domesticate the United Nations declaration on socio economic rights which entails that 15 percent of the national budget should go towards education. Moreover, given that Zimbabwe has so many resources particularly minerals like diamonds and gold that are being exploited, we demand that proceeds also be channelled towards higher education,†ZINASU president, Pride Mkono added.
Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has adopted the National Action Plan (NAP): Education for All-towards 2015, which incorporated Zimbabwe’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals for education. The NAP aims to increase enrolment and improve the quality of all levels of education.
Successful educational reform is a necessary step to creating the basis for sustained economic growth and requires the involvement of all stakeholders, ranging from families and civil society to national and local governments as well as the private sector.
Students and Youths Working on Reproductive Health Team director, Jimmy Wilford said the tertiary education sector was a threat to politicians and would remain underfunded.
“It’s important to note that tertiary education sector is a threat to the party where the Minister comes from. It is clear that students are amongst the majority of people who want a new government. It is politically prudent for ZANU-PF to ensure that there is no clear support within the tertiary institutions as such students will be a problem to their political lives,†Wilford said.
He added that there had been many expulsions taking place within the colleges: “A simple survey will show that all Ministers have their children in universities outside the country so they do not care about what is happening locallyâ€.
“More than half of the current leadership within MDC formations are a product of student activism, even within the ranks of ZANU-PF there are student activists. If there is enough support within the tertiary institutions, it becomes a breeding ground for new leaders,†said Wilford
Besides the lack of lecturers, the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics and the International Organsiation for Migration and the Higher Education Initiative Report summarised the major issues affecting universities, pointing at the heightened fees for both tuition and accommodation, paid in United States dollars. Following the new fees and currency regime, the 2009 first school term and academic year saw huge dropouts and students being forced to defer their studies.
Gross underfunding of institutions by the government since the 1990s has severely affected the quality of education: there are insufficient funds to buy up-to date teaching and learning materials, equipment and resources, to update technology and curricula. Institutions were receiving funds from research, research partnerships with businesses, organisations and the donor community, but such support has dried up.
Also, the majority of infrastructure, facilities and equipment are dilapidated, and the limited resources have pushed any repairs or maintenance down on the priority list.
This is a tragedy, taking into account the undeniable fact that the country’s education system is the backbone of social and economic progress. Education provides opportunities for individuals to realise their full potential and to achieve their dreams. It is through education that people can fight the menacing talons of poverty.
Social commentator, Tawanda Zata, said the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education was saddled with a lot of issues which need urgent attention and, as an entry point, there is need for an all stakeholder conference on higher education in Zimbabwe coordinated by the ministry.
“This will serve as a platform that will discuss pertinent issues in the country. I believe the outcome of that conference will enlighten different stakeholders on the state of higher education in the country and key recommendations, resolutions and action points will come out.
“Secondly, there is need for the Ministry to adopt best practices on higher education. This can be achieved by aligning our education sector to best practices obtained at both regional and international levels so that the education sector could be restored to its former state,†Zata said.
Students grants introduced in 1957 had gone a long way in ensuring that higher education was extended to all the marginalised students in the country, unfortunately, the government-bankrolled cadetship programme has over the years lost its significance due to lack of funding.
The lack of funding has also resulted in students, especially female students, engaging in risky behaviour such as prostitution, resulting in many cases of unsafe abortions, while cases of HIV and Aids are on the increase in tertiary institutions.
Recommendations from Stu-dents and Youths Working on Reproductive Health to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education include supporting curriculum-based programmes on gender, Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV and Aids in colleges. Colleges such as polytechnics are still lagging behind. Teacher colleges focus on HIV only, while universities do not have standard curricula covering the three components which are essential for student development.
“The Ministry should Influence the development and implementation of college based sexual harassment and HIV and Aids policies in the colleges. The ministry must also engage in research on the situation and challenges of students in the colleges in particular focusing on issues that affect student social development and ability to be active and productive members of the community,†Wilford said.
He also suggested improving the college budgetary systems, prioritising and meaningful allocation of financial resources to support sexual and reproductive health, sanitary wear and HIV.
“The ministry must support students and intensify the need for the re-introduction of the education grants to reduce underlying vulnerability factors such as transactional sex by students as they try to cushion accommodation, tuition and transport costs.â€
According to ZINASU, students are being forced to live in repugnant, squalid and insalubrious conditions in high density suburbs such as Senga in Gweru and Rujeko in Masvingo.
“Students are being exploited by unscrupulous landlords who pile up as many as 10 students in one room. In such environments, sanitation is a problem, prompting worries of disease outbreaks related to lack of clean water,†Mushawetu said.