Published by the government of Zimbabwe
11 June 2008
Harare — Three committees appointed by Government last year to spearhead the establishment of State universities in Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Matabeleland South provinces have presented their reports to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Cde Stan Mudenge.
Currently, the country has seven State universities serving 10 provinces. In an interview yesterday, Cde Mudenge confirmed having received the reports. "Last year, I set up the three committees to spearhead the establishment of universities in Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Matabeleland South. These committees have sent me their reports and I am currently studying them," he said.
Cde Mudenge, who could not divulge the contents of the reports, did not state when the universities would be established. "I cannot say that at the moment. I am studying the reports," he said. In 2006, Government announced the setting up of the three State universities in Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Matabeleland South provinces. Although these provinces have private universities, Government wants to introduce State universities so that all of the 10 provinces have at least a State university to make tertiary education more accessible.
In Matabeleland South Province, the university would be located in Gwanda town. The Gwanda State University would put emphasis on teaching animal husbandry, irrigation engineering management and archaeological science since the region is semi-arid. The university would temporarily operate from the Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic premises. In 2003, Government intended to develop the Mutare Polytechnic into the Mutare State University.
There were calls from some quarters in Manicaland to have the university situated in Rusape town as Mutare already has the privately owned Africa University. In Mashonaland East, the State University would be established in Marondera where land has already been identified.
The university, expected to initially use the Kushinga-Phikelela premises, would focus on agricultural science studies.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
