Government to increase State universities by end of year

THE Government will by the end of the year increase the number of universities to 21, 14 of which will be State universities in its eandeavour to cope with global higher and tertiary education standards as well as responding to President Mugabe's call to increase science and technology degree programmes that have remained key in the transformation of the economy.

Addressing lecturers and university staff at Midlands State University on Thursday, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo said Government was looking forward to setting up 14 State universities by the end of the year while a private university was expected by mid-2016.

"We want to increase the number of universities from nine State universities and six private universities to 14 State universities and seven private universities. We are hoping that the 14 State universities will have been set up by the end of year while the non-State university should be set up by mid next year.

"These 21 universities have to respond to the social economic transformation of our country along with 12 polytechnics and 14 teachers' colleges and industrial colleges. Higher and tertiary education under the Zim Asset has the mandate to prepare human capital," he said.

Prof Moyo said the universities must pay particular attention to science and technology programmes as instructed by President Mugabe when he synchronised higher and tertiary education with science and technology development.

"We would like to see higher and tertiary education being driven by science and technology. It was the first very clear, very bold statement to say we would like to have the same culture and revolution in our higher education and tertiary system. The question that is paramount to our exercise is whether the ministry has managed to bring together these two key components in an organic and functional way. We want to see whether the higher and tertiary education has been sanitised in response to the mandate given to us by President Mugabe," he said.

Prof Moyo also took a swipe at institutions and companies that were using the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) policy to seek favours and protection from Government.

"Anyone who wants to be in good books with Government and politicians has been saying that whatever they have been doing was for Zim-Asset even though they started doing it 20 years ago," he said.

Prof Moyo said the universities must strive to be ranked among the 10 best universities on the continent corresponding with the 92 percent adult literacy rate.

"Universities are the microcosm of our societies and we need to know that and competitions among higher and tertiary education are healthy, without it we will not grow economically as a country. We need at least three or more universities among Africa's top ten. This is important in the development of the nation and this is our current back drop in the country," said Prof Moyo.

He said Zimbabweans abroad had pledged to assist universities in offering quality and starndard higher and tertiary education.

"As a Ministry we are having a number of people in the Diaspora who want to assist us in upgrading our standards in the sector, we are going to engage them so that we get competent standards needed internationally because all universities in the country currently lack that competitiveness," said Prof Moyo.