US embassy cable - 03HARARE729

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000729 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S RAYNOR, AF/PDPA DALTON, ECA/A/E/AF 
AMARTIN, ECA/A/S/A PIVES, APRINCE, JFRISBIE 
 
ACCRA FOR REAC KETEKU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OEXC, SCUL, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWEAN UNIVERSITY PROFILES 
 
 
1.   This cable is the first in a series looking at 
  issues related to higher education in Zimbabwe. 
 
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SCENESETTER: EDUCATION IN ZIMBABWE 
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2.   Since independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has invested 
  heavily in education, improving the quantity and 
  quality of primary, secondary, and teacher training 
  schools throughout the country.  The result was that 
  Zimbabwe achieved the highest literacy rate in sub- 
  Saharan Africa and has produced an abundance of highly 
  qualified high school graduates. In an attempt to 
  absorb the growing number of students finishing high 
  school, the flagship University of Zimbabwe expanded 
  its incoming class sizes and eight new public and 
  private universities sprang up in major provincial 
  cities.  At least 35,000 students are now enrolled at 
  universities within Zimbabwe, almost 3% of the 
  country's total population of 12 million people. 
 
3.   Profiles of the seven most important universities 
  in Zimbabwe follow. 
 
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PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES 
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4.   University of Zimbabwe (www.uz.ac.zw):  Located 
  on a spacious campus in Harare, the UZ is Zimbabwe's 
  oldest and largest university.  Founded in 1952 as the 
  University of Rhodesia, it became the University of 
  Zimbabwe at independence in 1980.  About 18,000 
  students are enrolled at the university's 10 
  faculties, which include arts, agriculture, commerce, 
  education, engineering, law, medicine, science, social 
  studies, and veterinary science.  UZ houses the 
  country's only law and medical schools and most of the 
  country's accredited graduate programs. Its lecturers 
  tend to be more senior, better researched, and more 
  likely to hold a terminal degree than their colleagues 
  at newer institutions.  Annual tuition varies by 
  discipline but is currently around z$35,000 (US $26) 
  per year.  On-campus housing is available for 
  approximately 5000 students, but students complain 
  regularly about the quality and price of the 
  accommodations.  Many are known to "sub-let" their 
  dorm rooms to additional illegal roommates in order to 
  save money.  Food service at UZ has been privatized 
  and students are also unhappy with the price and 
  quality of food.  Many students say that they can only 
  afford to eat a proper meal once per day and that they 
  survive the rest of the time on tea and "air pies" 
  (imaginary food).  Students and staff are frustrated 
  by the university's economic woes, as evidenced by the 
  frequent neglect of routine maintenance on campus and 
  shortages of supplies.  In 2002, for example, a final 
  exam in chemistry had to be postponed because the lab 
  could not procure enough test tubes for all students 
  to complete the examination.  The University of 
  Zimbabwe is supposed to have two terms per year, with 
  the first term running from March to June and the 
  second from August to November.  At present this cycle 
  is off.  In February 2003, the Ministry of Higher 
  Education closed UZ indefinitely in response to a 
  strike by academic staff that began in November 2002. 
  Faculty members are seeking a 135% wage increase, not 
  unreasonable given Zimbabwe's inflation rate of 220%. 
  Final exams from December 2002 are still pending and 
  classes have not yet resumed as of April 2003.  UZ has 
  traditionally been the most sought after and 
  prestigious of local tertiary institutions, but many 
  top students are now choosing to enroll elsewhere, as 
  they fear that they will never finish a degree at UZ 
  under current conditions. 
 
5.   NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
  (www.nust.ac.zw):  Established in 1991 in Zimbabwe's 
  second-largest city, Bulawayo, NUST has become one of 
  the nation's premier educational institutions.  Home 
  to about 2700 students, NUST focuses on the sciences, 
  engineering, architecture, and technological fields. 
  The university administration has adopted a philosophy 
  of growing incrementally and stressing quality over 
  quantity, both in terms of the number of buildings 
  erected on its still-in-progress campus or when adding 
  new subjects.  NUST was the first university in 
  Zimbabwe to require an industrial attachment 
  (internship) for all of its students in order to 
  graduate.  This was part of a strategy to foster ties 
  with industry and to prepare students with practical 
  skills that they will need on the job. Tuition at NUST 
  is around z$36,000 per year and it operates on the 
  American academic calendar of two semesters beginning 
  in August and January.  Fewer than 100 students are 
  able to live on-campus, as most of the planned 
  residence halls have not yet been built.  Because of 
  Zimbabwe's fuel crisis, students and staff alike have 
  at times struggled to get to the NUST campus, located 
  about 5 km outside of the Bulawayo city center.  NUST 
  lecturers also went on strike in November 2002 seeking 
  a 135% salary increase.  Classes were curtailed at the 
  end of 2002 and final exams postponed, but most of the 
  academic staff is back at work and classes are meeting 
  again as of April 2003.  The salary issue has yet to 
  be resolved though, so the threat of another strike 
  still hangs in the air. 
 
6.   Bindura University of Science Education 
  (www.buse.ac.zw):  Bindura became a university in 
  2000, but its roots lie in a teacher-training 
  institute that for many years was supported heavily by 
  Cuban funding and personnel.  Located in a small town 
  about 100 km north of Harare, Bindura now has about 
  600 students who pay about z$35,000 per year in 
  tuition and fees.  The school has two terms per year, 
  with the first running from March to June and the 
  second from August to December.  As its name implies, 
  Bindura specializes in training teachers in biology, 
  chemistry, mathematics, physics, and environmental 
  science.  Most Bindura students already have 
  certificates from teacher training colleges and 
  several years experience in the classroom and are now 
  returning for a university degree.  Bindura is 
  hampered by its small campus and lack of physical and 
  material resources.  Its library is tiny, there are 
  few computers available for student use, and lab 
  facilities are inadequate.  Students in lab science 
  courses now travel as necessary to Harare and use 
  University of Zimbabwe lab facilities.  Bindura has a 
  long-term plan to build a new campus nearby, but lack 
  of funds has so far hindered the start of any 
  construction.  Bindura faculty members have not joined 
  the strike started by their colleagues at NUST and UZ 
  and classes are proceeding normally. 
 
7.   Midlands State University:  Located in Gweru, a 
  mid-sized town about 300 kilometers southwest of 
  Harare, Midlands State (MSU) only became a university 
  in 2000.  It has grown quickly and already has 4700 
  students, second in size only to the University of 
  Zimbabwe.  MSU is following the typical Zimbabwean 
  academic calendar, opening the school year in March 
  and beginning a second term in August.  Students pay 
  tuition of approximately z$35,000.  Midlands offers a 
  wide range of subjects, including agriculture, 
  commerce, and social studies.  Facilities are 
  inadequate for the size of the current student body 
  and the subjects being offered.  MSU has plans to 
  build its own campus, but no ground has yet been 
  broken, so classes are held on the grounds of the 
  former Midlands Teacher Training College.  Academics 
  at MSU tend to be younger and less experienced than 
  their UZ or NUST counterparts.  They have not gone on 
  strike or threatened to do so, and classes at MSU are 
  proceeding as scheduled. 
 
8.   Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU): ZOU boasts an 
  enrollment of almost 10,000 and offers a variety of 
  subjects, perhaps the most popular of which are 
  business, education, agriculture, and communications. 
  Tuition varies by subject but the average is about 
  z$33,000 per year.  Most ZOU students are working 
  adults, many of them teachers in rural areas, seeking 
  job advancement or a salary increase through a 
  university degree.  ZOU is however better described as 
  a correspondence school than a full-fledged 
  university.  Instruction takes place through written 
  self-study modules supplemented by occasional in- 
  person meetings for tutorials and exams.  ZOU's degree 
  completion rate is quite low and its degrees, though 
  accredited, are not as well respected as those from 
  other local universities. 
 
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PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES 
-------------------- 
 
9.   Africa University (www.africau.edu):  Africa 
  University (AU) is a private school located 15 
  kilometers west of Mutare, Zimbabwe's third-largest 
  city.  It opened in 1992 and is affiliated with and 
  financially supported by the American United Methodist 
  Church.  As its name implies, the campus hosts 
  students from 20 countries across Africa.  There are 
  currently about 1000 students enrolled and about 70 
  lecturers working in faculties of agriculture, 
  education, management, and theology. AU has a modern 
  campus, a first-class library and, on the whole, 
  greater resources than other universities in Zimbabwe. 
  AU follows the American academic calendar with 
  semesters starting in August and January.  Tuition and 
  fees per term for international students are US$2680, 
  while local residents pay about z$150,000 (US $110). 
  Africa University is a functional and growing 
  university with a diverse student body and staff 
  complement.  It is however, financially out of reach 
  for most Zimbabweans. 
 
10.  SOLUSI UNIVERSITY:  Solusi University is a 
  Seventh Day Adventist school with a student body of 
  1200.  It is located in a rural area about 100 
  kilometers outside of Bulawayo.  Students may choose 
  to study in the faculty of arts and sciences, 
  business, or theology and religious studies.  Solusi 
  follows the American academic calendar.  Tuition and 
  fees per semester are z$249,00 (US $185) for 
  Zimbabweans and US$1390 for foreigners.  The 
  Government of Zimbabwe recognized Solusi as an 
  independent degree-granting entity in 1994.  Prior to 
  that date, Solusi students received degrees from 
  Andrews University, another Adventist college located 
  in Michigan.  The degree program with Andrews was 
  phased out by 1998, but a special relationship still 
  exists between the two schools, which includes 
  material assistance, staff development, and faculty 
  exchange. 
 
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Other Institutions 
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11.  The Government of Zimbabwe plans to create two 
  more fully-fledged universities in the provincial 
  towns of Masvingo and Chinoyi.  In addition, Zimbabwe 
  has a network of smaller diploma-granting tertiary 
  institutions across the country, including polytechnic 
  institutes, nursing colleges, and teacher training 
  colleges.  These schools can best be compared to 
  community colleges or vocational schools in the United 
  States, as they cannot grant university degrees but 
  rather provide practical training and job skills for 
  particular trades. 
 
SULLIVAN