News / Education
'Universities must not retrench but rationalise,' says Prof Moyo
19 Oct 2015 at 06:40hrs | Views
THE Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has said universities should not confuse rationalisation with retrenchment as the government has not ordered them to fire any workers. Prof Moyo said this while addressing National University of Science and Technology (Nust) academic and non-academic staff on Saturday.
The Minister said even though institutions of higher learning were told to rationalise, there was nowhere in the dictionary where rationalisation was a synonym for retrenchment. Some institutions have misinterpreted the government's directive to rationalise to improve efficiency as a call for them to fire some of their workers.
"We never said that anyone should retrench anyone. Surely there must be rationalisation. Rationalisation is what cutting edge organisations which Nust is supposed to be, do all the time. |If you're not doing this maybe it's something that you need to look into. But I want to make it clear that we didn't say that universities should retrench," said Prof Moyo.
"We didn't use that word. We're aware that this is a very common word in Zimbabwe. If we wanted to talk about that we wouldn't have had any problem whatsoever. We do expect you to rationalise professionally." The Minister said universities will soon be awarded treasury grants in line with their abilities to execute the mandate bestowed on them.
He said it was unfair for institutions to gobble tax payers' money while failing to fulfil their mandate. "As we engage, it may very well be that going forward support by government for higher and tertiary education institutions will depend on improved criteria which will include whether or not you're meeting your mandate," said Prof Moyo.
"Because really, it's unfair to the general public with expectations of our institutions and that general public being the tax payers to keep allocating funds that aren't tied to any outcomes but are simply tied to institutions".
Prof Moyo's made the remarks after being told that Nust had diverted from its core business of enrolling Mathematics and Science students. The Minister was informed that only 49 percent of Nust students were studying Sciences while 51 percent were majoring in Commercials and Social Sciences. Prof Moyo said Nust must revert to its core business.
He said he would be happy if 70 percent of the students enrolled at the institution do Sciences. The Minister said higher learning institutions should be results oriented. "We need to have as a conversation some serious discussions on funding methods or formula that takes into account results. "After all everyone is talking about results, that's the essence of the major policy thrust we have right now under Zim-Asset," he said.
The Minister's meeting at Nust was sadly cut short after he received news of the death of his daughter, Zanele, in South Africa.
The Minister said even though institutions of higher learning were told to rationalise, there was nowhere in the dictionary where rationalisation was a synonym for retrenchment. Some institutions have misinterpreted the government's directive to rationalise to improve efficiency as a call for them to fire some of their workers.
"We never said that anyone should retrench anyone. Surely there must be rationalisation. Rationalisation is what cutting edge organisations which Nust is supposed to be, do all the time. |If you're not doing this maybe it's something that you need to look into. But I want to make it clear that we didn't say that universities should retrench," said Prof Moyo.
"We didn't use that word. We're aware that this is a very common word in Zimbabwe. If we wanted to talk about that we wouldn't have had any problem whatsoever. We do expect you to rationalise professionally." The Minister said universities will soon be awarded treasury grants in line with their abilities to execute the mandate bestowed on them.
"Because really, it's unfair to the general public with expectations of our institutions and that general public being the tax payers to keep allocating funds that aren't tied to any outcomes but are simply tied to institutions".
Prof Moyo's made the remarks after being told that Nust had diverted from its core business of enrolling Mathematics and Science students. The Minister was informed that only 49 percent of Nust students were studying Sciences while 51 percent were majoring in Commercials and Social Sciences. Prof Moyo said Nust must revert to its core business.
He said he would be happy if 70 percent of the students enrolled at the institution do Sciences. The Minister said higher learning institutions should be results oriented. "We need to have as a conversation some serious discussions on funding methods or formula that takes into account results. "After all everyone is talking about results, that's the essence of the major policy thrust we have right now under Zim-Asset," he said.
The Minister's meeting at Nust was sadly cut short after he received news of the death of his daughter, Zanele, in South Africa.
Source - chronicle
