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University gets grant
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
November 17, 2005

http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=48840&pubdate=2005-11-17

THE Women's University in Africa (WUA) has been awarded a grant of US$20 000 by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) to promote greater participation of women in science disciplines at university level.

The grant is anticipated to go a long way in emancipating women to become self- sustaining while addressing gender disparity and fostering equity in university education.

WUA public relations manager Ms Rosie Mercer said they were delighted to have received this funding which would enable them to develop a Foundation Course in Agriculture Studies to create opportunities for more women to participate in tertiary level agricultural education.

"The award of these grants is highly competitive therefore we see this as a vote of confidence in our young institution."

Co-ordinator of the Faculty of Agriculture Mr Stanislas Thamangani stated: "In essence the foundation course will draw on aspects of the current curriculum of year one agriculture students to introduce mature female students into the academic environment.

"A mentoring scheme will be put in place so that mature students, with little or no higher education qualifications, can be supported by those currently enrolled in the BSc degree programme.

"In addition, our students on the degree programmes will gain from the practical experience and knowledge of the anticipated foundation course students," he said.

In 2004 WUA undertook a feasibility study on the need for agricultural courses. The results from the study showed that farmers required training in basic farm management and marketing.

They also required training in various enterprises such as horticultural crop production, soil fertility management, and integrated pest management and post-harvest handling technologies.

Mr Thamangani added that there was initial planning and preparation in order to develop a modular course in anticipation of student enrolment by mid-next year.

"Our first group of students are graduating on the 19th of November and Rabecca Rance will receive the Dr Fay King Chung Trophy for Best Female Agriculture student," he said.

"The students have been taught the principles of research and now have the opportunity to turn the theory into practice. Results from these projects will be of great benefit to owners of smallholdings and in some instances may lead to more in-depth research being undertaken by the university," said Ms Ivy Mudita, lecturer with the university.

Acting Vice-Chancellor of WUA Dr Hope Sadza said it was anticipated the foundation course would function as a mechanism for increasing the confidence of participants and dispelling some of the myths associated with learning in academic institutions.

This would attract more women into longer-term academic study in the science and technology of agriculture.

Most developing nations are investing in the basic education of girls and women as a key to development but women's access to higher education should also be a priority.

At the heart of the core values of WUA is the belief that the economic empowerment of women lies firstly in their hands and secondly in equal participation of those who are able and capable to help them.

This lack of economic empowerment over the decades has witnessed an increase in the extent of poverty of the women in Africa. Economic development for WUA is, therefore, through tertiary education and the attendant cascading effect of those benefits.

WUA is the brainchild of a small group of leading women educationalists in Zimbabwe, led by Dr Fay King Chung, a former Minister of Education and Culture in Zimbabwe and senior civil servant and retired director for Unesco Capacity Building Project for Africa Dr Hope Cynthia Sadza.

The University Charter was gazetted in the Parliament of Zimbabwe in 2004. While awaiting its formal establishment through Parliament, WUA had begun to run courses in September 2002 opening with an enrolment of 145 students.

Presently, over 50 staff are employed at WUA, half of whom are academic staff in the faculties of Agriculture, Management and Entrepreneurial Development Studies, Reproductive and Family Health Sciences, Sociology and Gender Development Studies.

Current student enrolment numbers 900 and approximately three-quarters of WUA's students are women who are aged between 19 and 50 years.

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