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Education Transitional Fund and the rot in higher and tertiary education sector
Students Solidarity Trust
April 06, 2010

On September 14th 2009, the Zimbabwe's Minister of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture launched the multi-million United States Dollar Education Transition Fund (ETF); a partnership between the government of Zimbabwe, UNICEF and UNESCO, donor governments and civil society, aimed at achieving national impact in the education sector. This far the initiative has received favourable support from the International Community in particular the European Union (EU) which has made significant contribution to the fund. While the fund is a noble and welcome move it supports mainly basic and elementary education and exposes lack of adequate and consolidated initiatives in funding university or tertiary and technical education.

ETF is meant to ensure that every child in Zimbabwe has access to textbooks, as well as learning materials and stationary. It is also meant to strengthen School Development Committees, as well as respond to technical assistance needs of the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture MoESAC. On 24 March 2010 at a signing ceremony attended by Honorable Prime Minister Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara, Education Minister Coltart and other guests the EU committed USD 10, 6 million towards the ETF fund. According to Xavier Marchal, Head of Delegation of the EU the European Commission contribution, which is provided on behalf of the whole European Union, represents around 20% of the total Fund, which amounts to USD 50 million USD.

Marchal on his comments on the signing ceremony noted that the contribution is part of EU response to the existence of the Global Political Agreement (GPA). It is a component of the Short Term Strategy to which the European Commission committed with an increased allocation of funds when Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his inclusive delegation went to Brussels in June 2009 to re-launch the EU-Zimbabwe political dialogue, and which is being augmented by significant funding from Bilateral EU Member States.

As was note by UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Peter Salama on his remarks at the signing ceremony on March 24, 2010 the Fund cannot solve all the problems of the education sector; however there is an urgent need to attend to the plight of college and university students. All stakeholders including the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education (MoHTE), the inclusive government, the international community and the civil society need to make concerted efforts in establishing a consolidated mechanism to address the ailing tertiary education situation.

There is an urgent need to attend to the deteriorating infrastructure and unfinished construction and or renovation works at most tertiary institutions. Campus accommodation at most state universities remain closed owing to the water situation and ablution facilities that are not functional. The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Students Union Building a donation from her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom is rendered derelict by dragging renovation works that have taken more than 7 years to be completed due to lack of funds. University students as a result of accommodation crisis are cramped up in houses located near the universities sharing up to ten in one small room with some sharing makeshifts corrugated concrete and wooden cabins.

There also vast shortage of study material and equipment at state universities. Most state university libraries can no longer cope with the demand for books and other study aids and it has become difficult for students to even access books in the open shelves. The reserve sections of the universities are inundated by demands for core reference books that are almost always out of the shelves in circulation. Students are allocated 30 minutes each per day on university computers.

The loan system that was traditionally meant to support students' everyday needs and cover tuition and other ancillary costs was scrapped off by the government in February 2006. The cadetship scheme which was introduced as a safety net to cushion the most affected after the withdrawal of the loan system has remained unacceptably and inaccessible to the majority of the students due to its stringent terms. The scheme does not cover tuition fees in total with students still having to pay a third of the total fees and it comes with bonding of students under the scheme in the public service for a minimum period equivalent to time spent studying after finishing.

Many of these problems together with a plethora of others not mentioned here need concerted efforts from stake holders with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education playing a leading role. Minister Mudenge needs to emulate and learn from positive developments that his counterpart in the Ministry of Education Sports, arts and Culture has initiated in the context of the inclusive government. The Minister unlike his counter-parts in the region and abroad seems to be content basking on the glow of ministerial packages, benefits and privileges virtually doing nothing to improve tertiary education delivery system.

In South Africa; Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blaze Nzimande, delivered his budget vote in parliament on March 25, 2010 with universities set to receive R17.5 billion (US$2.4 billion) this year, the lion's share of a R32 billion post-school budget.

According to University World News universities will be expected to transform further, a new funding system will be explored, and there will be reviews of student housing, health sciences provision and the role of African languages in higher education.

Higher Education South Africa, the vice-chancellors' association, welcomed the allocation, which it described as "realistic". Together with funds for infrastructure improvements, the budget would ensure quality is maintained and enhanced in universities.

University World News stated that next month a Higher Education Stakeholder Summit will be held, providing a national platform for all stakeholders to explore challenges of transformation and the role of higher education in national development.

In Zimbabwe's higher and tertiary education sector there is not much activity as a minister with a glaring record of failure was recycled by President Mugabe when the inclusive government was formed. Under Minister Mudenge the loans to students were withdrawn, exorbitant tuition and accommodation fees were introduced, government subsidized catering services in universities were stopped, Students Representative Councils (SRCs) were banned, halls of residences in some universities were closed, local donor and international support of tertiary education was dispelled, infrastructure dilapidated at alarming levels and in general the lustrous tertiary education of the early 1990s became a shadow of itself and a caricature of Mudenge's mentorship.

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