Government to build more three Universities

These provinces are the only ones without State universities. Secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education Dr Washington Mbizvo said this while giving oral evidence before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education.

"We have identified pieces of land in Matabeleland South, Mashonaland East (Marondera University of Technology) and Manicaland and our professionals on the ground are already co-ordinating activities," Dr Mbizvo said.

On the issue of cadetship, Dr Mbizvo said it was meant to retain skilled labour in Zimbabwe.

"At one point we had 200 pharmacists who left the country. Therefore, bonding students helps us retain those professionals," he said.

Dr Mbizvo said Presidential scholarships had benefited the country considering that 32 000 Advanced level students completed their studies every year, yet the country’s local universities only accommodated 11 000 of them.

"We have students who have studied law at Fort Hare and they have helped in reducing a big shortage of lawyers at the Ministry of Justice," Dr Mbizvo said.

He said universities were expected to sustain themselves by doing research work instead of relying on Government funding.

"When designing fee structures, universities are expected to consult students before sending their proposals to the ministry.

"Universities have also been given a mandate to produce 40 percent of their budget from research work and to utilise the farms they were given," Dr Mbizvo said.

Meanwhile, the University of Zimbabwe has lowered the cut-off points required to study certain programmes due to low student take-up.

UZ director of information Mrs Rosemary Magosvongwe said the faculty of science, for example, was now admitting students with five points.

"We were saying as long as one has 3 A levels that person should be accepted," she said.

Mrs Magosvongwe, however, said this was not the case in all faculties as some departments, such as law, had not cut-off points.

"Students who applied last year responded slowly so we had to fill those places with others and that is the reason why we were now taking those with low points. "We were taking students either from the waiting list," she said.

Among other challenges the UZ is retaining lecturers. It has been reported that the institution has slightly over half of the required 1 200 lecturers.

This has seen enrollment in some programmes, such as metallurgy and mining engineering, being frozen.