HARARE – State universities will not be taking first year students this February after deferring enrolment to August while they work to integrate a new curriculum.
Professor Amon Murwira, the minister of higher and tertiary education, said the government had advised universities to comply with the Zimbabwe National Qualification Framework which seeks to improve the competitiveness of local tertiary qualifications to meet the needs of an evolving labour market.
“The universities said they will only be ready in August. The universities are the ones that are aligning their curricula, so there will be no first year February intake but they are going to start applying this time and lectures will start in August because universities are working on their systems to come into compliance,” he said.
The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) carried out an audit of all degrees after concerns that some graduates were not equipped for the present needs of employers after earning “useless” degrees.
Universities hope to change the mindsets of students to “job creators” and “industry solutions providers” after fine-tuning their degree programmes.
