The Standard

6 The Standard September 28 to October 4 2014
Local News
Money drives
universities’
enrolment
By EvErson Mushava
The ever-increasing number
of students enrolled
at the country’s universities
and the spiralling
cost of education all but
confirms the commercialisation
of education, analysts have said.
At least 30 000 graduates are
churned out from Zimbabwe universities
and tertiary colleges every
year.
But unlike before the turn of
the century when university education
in Zimbabwe was a preserve
of the academically gifted,
commercialisation of education
has hit Zimbabwe’s institutions
of higher learning. Nowadays,
money, rather than academic
brilliance, is driving enrolments
up.
Chancellor of Zimbabwe State
universities, President Robert
Mugabe is annually capping thousands
of graduands. Most of them
cannot be absorbed into the formal
job market as the country’s
underperforming economy continues
to witness more company
closures.
Zimbabwe now has about 10
State universities and several other
government-run technical colleges.
While the drive in previous
years was to produce students
with unparalleled knowledge, the
pattern seems to have shifted to
accomodate those who can pay
fees. With fees pegged between
US$600 and US$900 a semester,
some universities are making
a killing as they continue to increase
their enrolments with students
with low pass rates.
While in the past enrolments
were influenced by available places,
now some universities are enrolling
more students than their
facilities and human resources
can manage in order to raise cash
to meet the costs of running the
institutions.
One student at MSU who refused
to be named for security
reasons said: “When I enrolled,
they were not particular about my
qualifications. They asked me if I
had the money to pay and when
my answer was in the affirmative,
they gave me a form to fill in and
pay the fees.”
He added: “It is all about money.
Even facilities are not enough for
the number of students the university
enrols.”
The university runs conventional
and parallel programmes.
“They are particular about
points for conventional students,
not parallel, but at the
end, most of the parallel students
will end up in the conventional
classes, which means
there is no cut off points. The
entry requirement is therefore
your ability to pay fees,” said
another student.
Due to appalling conditions
such as unavailability of inadequate
accommodation at the campus,
most students, particularly
female students, end up raising
money through unortho-
Graduates celebrate at the recent University of Zimbabwe graduation ceremony... Thousands find it difficult to get employment in
Zimbabwe. (File picture)
dox means in order to make ends
meet.
Students at the Midlands State
University (MSU) continue to face
accommodation problems, as the
institution is unable to house its
growing population.
With an enrolment of close to
18 298 students, MSU can accommodate
less than half of its students,
and in order to cut costs,
most would be forced to co-habit,
with either other students or nonstudents
as a survival technique,
exposing them to risk of contracting
STI and HIV.
There are reports that at MSU
over eight students are forced
to share a single room in Gweru
suburbs such as Senga and Nehosho.
A lecturer who spoke to The
Standard on condition of anonymity
said: “Mass enrolments
compromises quality of education.
There is an increased number
of students without corresponding
infrastructure. The
student-lecturer ratio will be too
high.”
Great Zimbabwe University in
Masvingo has taken notes from
MSU. Its enrolment figures have
reportedly increased in the last
few years, with some students residing
in Mashava.
A GZU student, who preferred
to be identified only as Tinashe,
said the conditions at GZU were
declining as the increasing enrolment
was not corresponding
with the existing infrastructure.
Both MSU and GZU authorities
could not be reached for comment.
A professor with one of the
leading universities who refused
to be named for professional
reasons, said universities
needed to look at their capacity
in terms of lecture rooms,
human resources, accommodation,
library, and various other
factors and come up with enrolments
corresponding with the
facilities.
“It becomes a problem if universities
enroll more than their
capacity,” he said.
He said the University of Zimbabwe
was still observing the
cut-off points due to the great
demand for places. However,
other universities are said to
be enrolling students with only
two points.
In the face of dwindling government
support, he said, universities
have to devise methods
of raising money, but enrolling
beyond capacity should not be
tolerated.
A female lecturer, who also
preferred anonymity for professional
reasons, blasted commercialisation
of education,
saying it defeated the purpose
of helping students as most of
them exposed to harsh conditions,
could contract diseases
and die a few years after graduating.
“We should not create problems
in an attempt to solve others,”
she said. “Universities
should enroll within their capacities.”
There have been reports that
there was high HIV prevalence
among MSU students due to economic
hardships and an unconducive
environment.
Guramatunhu: Specialist with passion for art
By WELLInGTon ZIMBoWa
Being a renowned eye specialist
can be enough to wean one from
their culture and traditions.
Famed for his charity medical outreach
programmes through the Eyes
for Africa project, little is known about
Solomon Guramatunhu’s passion for
the art world.
Sculptures, portraits, carvings,
paintings, music and books are the
man’s treasured possessions.
And the glaring cosmopolitan aura
is certain as his artwork is a rich blend
of various cultures with collections
not only from the mother continent
but other foreign places such as Australia,
Shanghai, Bali, Vietnam, South
America, as well as the Carribean.
But the obvious bias to Zimbabwean
tradition cannot be missed. His
garden, immaculately decorated with
sculptures, boldly explores traditional
aspects such as spirituality and ubuntu.
“I believe that if others appreciate
and invest in our art better than us, we
run the risk of being educated but not
enlightened,” he says.
“Most of my artwork collection is
from first generation sculptors like
Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Henry Munyaradzi,
Bernard Matemera and the
Takawira brothers. It’s unfortunate
that most of them are now late with the
exception of Sylvester Mubayi whom I
visited in Chitungwiza and the youngest
of the Takawira brothers,” he said.
At the entrance is Nicholas Mukomberanwa’s
Lovers on a huge rough
stone and according to Guramatunhu,
“the couple have just been to the top of
the mountain. Now they are in a very
intimate embrace”.
Then, there is Dominic Benhura’s
Dancer, who is in a dancing-like stance
with both arms stretched out in opposite
directions who is there to welcome
his visitors, as well as wave them goodbye.
Benard Matemera’s Spiritual Lady
which Guramatunhu found in Guruve
while lying in rubble, is a huge “female”
sculpture that looks lost in meditation.
“She is very spiritual, I pass through
every morning and thank her for looking
over me during the night!” explained
the eye specialist.
But it is Benhura’s larger than life
handiworks — convincingly electrifying
the whole garden — that dominate
his collections in the vast picturesque
garden, with the Feeling Good Lady
“sure to make anyone who gets close to
her feel good.”
Another impressive icon is the Mother
and Child facing the entrance “as if
to ward off the evil forces.”
The gallery inside the house also
contains many paintings from local
and foreign artists.
The former Alliance Francaise president,
who besides English and Shona
also speaks French, Portuguese and
Ndebele — a helping factor in conversing
with his varied assortment of patients
is the National Art Gallery’s
chairperson.
He is determined to give his all in
promoting and appreciating art by
Zimbabweans.
“I am very fortunate to work with
amazing people like Doreen Sibanda,
director of the National Gallery,
Raphael Chikukwa, the curator, and
all staff as well as a dynamic team of
board members for Friends of the Gallery
and architect, Richard Beattie,”
said Guramatunhu.
Following a donation from the Norwegian
embassy, challenges such as
the perennial leakages will soon end
as the gallery is on the verge of completing
some major facelifts.
The eye specialist, who was the
founding chairperson of a post- graduate
medical course at the University of
Zimbabwe, is also passionate in reaching
out to the corporate world, schools
and colleges.
“We recently held a corporate dinner
in a bid to unlock financial support
for art development and support to artistes
and we are also having numerous
outreach programmes for schoolchildren,”
he said
How does he cool off given his obvious
tight schedule?
“I dance ballroom and latino for an
hour everyday and I also have a special
interest in dressage horse riding,” he
said.
Solomon Guramatunhu poses with one of the many pieces of art found
in his garden. Picture: Wallace Mawire