Govt must fund state universities

Harare West MP Jessie Fungayi Majome has challenged the government to fully fund the running of state universities if it wants to really call them state institutions.

Majome said this last week on Thursday in the National Assembly she debated in critical support of the Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Bill, which if passed will establish the university.

"Being myself a product of a State university, the University of Zimbabwe I support government 's efforts to expand tertiary education by establishing a State university," she said.

"My key issue though is -What is a State university without State funding? Is a State university defined solely by the chancellorship of the head of State? I think not! I therefore implored government to revoke its decision to withdraw funding from State universities and to restore student loans in order to expand access to education."

She said she urged the government to focus the university on developing agro-processing technology. "I also advocated that the Ministry of Higher Education finds a way to monetise intellectual and research capital, and knowledge from our universities," she said. "I insisted that the government creates employment so that the graduates from this university don't join millions of others selling tomatoes and toothpicks on the streets."

Majome said that wrapped up a busy week for her in the National Assembly in which she also debated the Gender Commission Bill, moved her motion to reinstate her motion on Gender Based Violence, attended meetings of the justice and local government portfolio committees that she asked in vain the home affairs deputy minister why the police act as if they are above the Constitution by stifling demonstrations in terms of the Public Order and Security Act most of which was repealed by the Constitution, and attended two breakfast meetings of Zimbabwe Lawyers Human Rights and traveled to cold, drizzling Nyanga for back to back parliamentary training seminars on diplomacy and legislative drafting, until Wednesday.