By Leonnel Mhuka
ZINASU, through its spokesperson, Lifeline Guta, has released a report on their High-Level Education Forum that was held in Bulawayo yesterday.
Below is the full report:
REPORT ON THE HIGH-LEVEL EDUCATION FORUM (2ND EDITION)
We had our second edition of the High-Level Education forum in Bulawayo today, and the objectives were to bring together key stakeholders from the public and private sector to discuss collaborative approaches to leverage resources for the development of the higher education sector in Zimbabwe. The program was moderated by Brighton Ncube who is a journalist based in Bulawayo and host of the Breakfast Club and This Morning on Asakhe with Citezw. The panelist for the program were Dr. Wayne Malinga the Policy and Research Manager at the Public Policy and Research Institute of Zimbabwe. He is also a lecturer at Lupane State University taking courses on climate change. The second panelist was Busi Dube the executive director of the National Youth Development Trust and also a human rights activist. The third panelist was Honorable Minenhle Gumede, a Member of Parliament for Bulawayo North Constituency and The Chairperson of The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education. The fourth panelist the President of ZINASU commander in Chief Emmanuel Sitima, the radical, human rights warrior, and an advocate for participatory democracy.
What the program sought to bring out was a highlight of how the education system of Education 5.0 has impacted negatively on the quality of graduates that are coming from the tertiary institutions. Some good examples are that with limited resources the education 5.0 is not conducive as a system to dish competent graduates in the employment sector. Another example is of medical students, some of the key questions was how we can have trust in medical doctors coming from this system given that they have little time to grasp the whole concept involved in that line of profession with limited resources like laboratory apparatus there is no way in a space of three weeks they are going to be fully braced for practice.
Some other key areas where how lecturers are underpaid in this same system that seeks to usher in competent and innovative professionals taking a furtive look at how lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe are being paid $2 per hour. Other countries are now talking about education 6.0 with digital literacy at the epicenter of the system, yet in Zimbabwe we are still stuck in this underfunded educational policy which is yet to be implemented fruitfully in the institutions of Higher Learning. There is relatively lack of student involvement in decision making particularly in the Ministry of Higher Tertiary Education.
Other key areas discussed during the program includes the misalignment of policies especially those that address progressive educational system in Higher Tertiary system. This misalignment has become a cancer that is affecting the students with few benefiting in the absence of the majority. Students are not being seen as major stakeholders in policy formulation with regards to educational policies.
The first panelist Dr. W. Malinga highlighted the absence of innovation in the so-called innovation hubs with little innovation to talk about. There is lack of technology, lack of infrastructural development, lack of entrepreneurial spirit which is primarily a result of misalignment of on policy and education
funding. The third panelist highlighted the need for metrics and clear research to analyze the extent of the continuous decay in the education system specifically in tertiary institutions.
Regards
LIFELINE GUTA (ZINASU NATINAL SPOKESPERSON)
