By Vusumuzi Sifile
THERE was celebration, jubilation and entertainment at State House on 16 February when President Robert Mugabe held a reception for 481 students bound for South African universities under the Presidential Scholarship Programme.
In the past, beneficiaries were sent only to Fort Hare University, Mugabe’s alma mater.
But the programme has been expanded to include Rhodes, KwaZulu Natal, Witwatersrand, Venda, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan, Johannesburg, Cape Peninsula and Walter Sisulu universities.
While the government has expanded the presidential scholarship programme, it has ironically slashed financial support to students at local institutions.
Local students now feel the government has sacrificed them for the sake of pleasing a few not-so-deserving students.
In the view of the disaffected students the government should improve the education delivery system at home, rather than expanding what they describe as the “flawed Mugabe scholarship programme”.
On Wednesday, the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) issued a communiqué calling on South Africa “to immediately revoke students’ visas of all the children of the ruling Zanu PF elite who are currently studying in South Africa”.
“The majority of the beneficiaries, if not all, are kids, friends and relatives of Zanu PF’s top officials,” said the communiqué.
“The money used to finance 481 students heading for South Africa should have been used productively to improve on education systems in the country for the benefit of the majority. We condemn, in the strongest of terms, the use of state resources for patronage purposes.”
Among other things, ZINASU said the money used for the programme could have paid local lecturers, some of whom are leaving tertiary institutions to seek greener pastures. Charity begins at home, they maintain. Interestingly, The Standard understands Zimbabwean lecturers form a good proportion of the faculty at most of the institutions to which the government is sending the scholarship beneficiaries.
“To the receiving country, South Africa, President (Thabo) Mbeki and President (Jacob) Zuma… we urge you to deport all students studying on Zimbabwe state resources and have them taste their father’s medicine. They must go through the suffering and pain of studying at a Zimbabwe tertiary state institution together with us.”
The co-ordinator of the scholarship programme, Chris Mushohwe, was said to be out of his office.
While the students who received scholarships have already left for their different programmes with everything they needed, students at tertiary institutions back home are not sure what the future holds for them.
All State universities recently hiked fees, landing some students’ parents with $1.4 billion-a-semester bills. This could prejudice a good number of qualified students.
At the Midlands State University (MSU), the second semester for the 2007/2008 academic year, scheduled to have begun last Monday, has been postponed to 7 April because of the harmonised elections due on 29 March. The fees have also gone up.
At the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), students said they were not even sure if the campus would re-open as scheduled. The new semester was initially scheduled to begin on 31 March, but has now been delayed by a week to 7 April.
Two weeks ago, the institution advertised for 138 academic posts, but students believe the number is far too short for what the institution needs, to function effectively.
At least 51 of the advertised posts are in the College of Health Sciences, which comprises the Department of Medicine, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Microbiology, Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rehabilitation, and Pharmacy.
This has forced the university to rely mostly on private doctors for tuition.
According to UZ students’ leaders, at the close of the last semester the university was operating with about 400 lecturers, a discrepancy of 800.
For the better part of last year, the few lecturers who remained were on strike.
Lovemore Chinoputsa, ZINASU’s secretary-general, said under the current circumstances, it would be pointless for the UZ to re-open.
“At the moment the university has no capacity to effectively execute its duties,” he said.
He is also the president of the UZ Students Executive Council (SEC).
“This is a disservice to the students and the people of Zimbabwe,” he said. “It is disheartening to note that the current government continues to renege on its responsibility of ensuring quality tertiary education.”
Two weeks ago, students petitioned the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Stan Mudenge, to urgently address the malaise, demanding “a sound Education Policy that provides for a sustainable growth”.
Mudenge on Wednesday said they were not sidelining students at local institutions.
“At the moment, they are on vacation,” said Mudenge. “They will see what we are doing for them when they open for the new semester. They should wait and see what we are doing to address their present plight and situation when they open.”
ZINASU leaders have in the past told The Standard most attempts to engage Mudenge’s ministry on their grievances had not been fruitful.
The minister said “the students have absolutely every right to come to me if they have any complaints”.
One of the few reputable lecturers still teaching at the UZ, Professor John Makumbe, said it was becoming more and more difficult for the UZ to “execute its mandate”.
“Most of the heads of departments are largely acting people,” said Makumbe. “The situation is so grim, I doubt if some departments will be able to function when we open. The major reason for all this is just poor pay. Presently, I think we have a vacancy rate of 60% to 70%, and that is non-viable. The university cannot execute its mandate under the current set-up. The current situation is not good for the education system.”
At the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo the situation is said to be “very critical”. This has resulted in a number of departments being run by people without doctorates.
“Most senior lecturers are leaving, and junior lecturers who are seconded for staff development fellowships have been reluctant to come back,” said a NUST official.
“The major problem is money. Even the ones who remain are always on strike. They are as good as if they were not there. People are disgruntled over salaries and poor working conditions.”
Tertiary education in Zimbabwe was once ranked among the best in Africa, but growing dissatisfaction among professionals and under funding have seen standards nose-diving.
The government no longer supports students through grants and loans, as it did only a few years ago.
The charity has gone out of the government’s soul, say analysts.
First published in The Standard, 02 March 2008
THERE was celebration, jubilation and entertainment at State House on 16 February when President Robert Mugabe held a reception for 481 students bound for South African universities under the Presidential Scholarship Programme.
In the past, beneficiaries were sent only to Fort Hare University, Mugabe’s alma mater.
But the programme has been expanded to include Rhodes, KwaZulu Natal, Witwatersrand, Venda, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan, Johannesburg, Cape Peninsula and Walter Sisulu universities.
While the government has expanded the presidential scholarship programme, it has ironically slashed financial support to students at local institutions.
Local students now feel the government has sacrificed them for the sake of pleasing a few not-so-deserving students.
In the view of the disaffected students the government should improve the education delivery system at home, rather than expanding what they describe as the “flawed Mugabe scholarship programme”.
On Wednesday, the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) issued a communiqué calling on South Africa “to immediately revoke students’ visas of all the children of the ruling Zanu PF elite who are currently studying in South Africa”.
“The majority of the beneficiaries, if not all, are kids, friends and relatives of Zanu PF’s top officials,” said the communiqué.
“The money used to finance 481 students heading for South Africa should have been used productively to improve on education systems in the country for the benefit of the majority. We condemn, in the strongest of terms, the use of state resources for patronage purposes.”
Among other things, ZINASU said the money used for the programme could have paid local lecturers, some of whom are leaving tertiary institutions to seek greener pastures. Charity begins at home, they maintain. Interestingly, The Standard understands Zimbabwean lecturers form a good proportion of the faculty at most of the institutions to which the government is sending the scholarship beneficiaries.
“To the receiving country, South Africa, President (Thabo) Mbeki and President (Jacob) Zuma… we urge you to deport all students studying on Zimbabwe state resources and have them taste their father’s medicine. They must go through the suffering and pain of studying at a Zimbabwe tertiary state institution together with us.”
The co-ordinator of the scholarship programme, Chris Mushohwe, was said to be out of his office.
While the students who received scholarships have already left for their different programmes with everything they needed, students at tertiary institutions back home are not sure what the future holds for them.
All State universities recently hiked fees, landing some students’ parents with $1.4 billion-a-semester bills. This could prejudice a good number of qualified students.
At the Midlands State University (MSU), the second semester for the 2007/2008 academic year, scheduled to have begun last Monday, has been postponed to 7 April because of the harmonised elections due on 29 March. The fees have also gone up.
At the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), students said they were not even sure if the campus would re-open as scheduled. The new semester was initially scheduled to begin on 31 March, but has now been delayed by a week to 7 April.
Two weeks ago, the institution advertised for 138 academic posts, but students believe the number is far too short for what the institution needs, to function effectively.
At least 51 of the advertised posts are in the College of Health Sciences, which comprises the Department of Medicine, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Microbiology, Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rehabilitation, and Pharmacy.
This has forced the university to rely mostly on private doctors for tuition.
According to UZ students’ leaders, at the close of the last semester the university was operating with about 400 lecturers, a discrepancy of 800.
For the better part of last year, the few lecturers who remained were on strike.
Lovemore Chinoputsa, ZINASU’s secretary-general, said under the current circumstances, it would be pointless for the UZ to re-open.
“At the moment the university has no capacity to effectively execute its duties,” he said.
He is also the president of the UZ Students Executive Council (SEC).
“This is a disservice to the students and the people of Zimbabwe,” he said. “It is disheartening to note that the current government continues to renege on its responsibility of ensuring quality tertiary education.”
Two weeks ago, students petitioned the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Stan Mudenge, to urgently address the malaise, demanding “a sound Education Policy that provides for a sustainable growth”.
Mudenge on Wednesday said they were not sidelining students at local institutions.
“At the moment, they are on vacation,” said Mudenge. “They will see what we are doing for them when they open for the new semester. They should wait and see what we are doing to address their present plight and situation when they open.”
ZINASU leaders have in the past told The Standard most attempts to engage Mudenge’s ministry on their grievances had not been fruitful.
The minister said “the students have absolutely every right to come to me if they have any complaints”.
One of the few reputable lecturers still teaching at the UZ, Professor John Makumbe, said it was becoming more and more difficult for the UZ to “execute its mandate”.
“Most of the heads of departments are largely acting people,” said Makumbe. “The situation is so grim, I doubt if some departments will be able to function when we open. The major reason for all this is just poor pay. Presently, I think we have a vacancy rate of 60% to 70%, and that is non-viable. The university cannot execute its mandate under the current set-up. The current situation is not good for the education system.”
At the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo the situation is said to be “very critical”. This has resulted in a number of departments being run by people without doctorates.
“Most senior lecturers are leaving, and junior lecturers who are seconded for staff development fellowships have been reluctant to come back,” said a NUST official.
“The major problem is money. Even the ones who remain are always on strike. They are as good as if they were not there. People are disgruntled over salaries and poor working conditions.”
Tertiary education in Zimbabwe was once ranked among the best in Africa, but growing dissatisfaction among professionals and under funding have seen standards nose-diving.
The government no longer supports students through grants and loans, as it did only a few years ago.
The charity has gone out of the government’s soul, say analysts.
First published in The Standard, 02 March 2008
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