Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

Challenges in the Era of Globalization
Edited by Emmanuel Obuah
education as a private commodity; a traded commodity to be purchased by a consumer, a product to be
retailed by academic institutions (Altbach, 2004). The reality is that only those from the rich socioeconomic
backgrounds attend parallel programmes.
The introduction of fee paying policy in universities together with the privatization of basic amenities
such as accommodation and food catering brought untold suffering to the students (Zeilig, 2008). As
students, lecturers and administrators expressed, students are finding it difficult to raise tuition fees.
Students cannot afford paying for their tuition and government is also not in a position to pay students
fees. So the greatest dilemma is to carry on with university education with no one funding it. Students are
asked to apply for cadetship funds, which they do, but the government does not have the money, does not
release the money but expect university education to continue (Interview with a University Administrator,
July 2010).
We have been running what is called NACAPEZ (National Campaign Against Privatization of Education
in Zimbabwe). The way the university is run, going to the university is now the privilege of the rich
(Interview with a Student Leader, August 2010).
A number of studies strongly corroborate the sentiments expressed indicating that the localization of
neoliberal principles has negatively affected higher education (Makombe, 2009; Zeilig, 2008).
Government attempts to alleviate the challenges facing students has come through a policy called
cadetship where needy students apply for loans to the government. This has created its own problems as
government does not have the money to give to the applicants while at the same time the government
does not come out in the open to say it has no money. Students are supposed to apply and the ministry
screens the recipients. Government says anyone who applies will get the money but this is not the case.
Some who applied in 2009 have not yet received the money. Some of those who applied during
the first semester got the money in the third semester. We received the money for 2009, this year (2010).
The government gives US$40 thousand a year and universities figure out who will get the money. This
is too little (Interview with a University Administrator, August 2010).
The crisis wrought by neoliberalism/black capitalism is also seen in the drop in salaries of university
employees and this has affected the working morale of academics. There has been a mass exodus of
academics, resulting in plummeting standards. The flight of lecturers has hit crisis levels (Makumbe,
2009). Makombe, citing Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education documents, reported that public
universities have been hard hit by understaffing with the University of Zimbabwe having 385 out of the
required 1171 academic members; Harare Institute of Technology has a 70% vacancy level with only 37
academic staff members out of a possible 123. Major push factors were low pay for academics in a
collapsing economy with over 230 million percent inflation - the world’s highest - poor working
conditions, lack of transport and computers, and problems finding accommodation (Manyukwe, 2008).
One lecturer complained:
We have some in parastatals (government companies) earning US$16 000 against US$150
a month for civil servants. This is black capitalism and appears worse than colonial white
capitalism. The black capitalists their hands have been greased by the bourgeois system and
they loot at the detriment of the nation. They use their political muscles to continuously tap
and harness the country’s wealth. They use the law, like indigenization to empower themselves.
What it entails is that it is a system that continues to enrich the rich and impoverishes the poor
(Interview with a University Lecturer, August 2010).
To add to this plethora of problems, there have been consistent increases in fees since 1991 and
universities have been losing crucial donor funding, especially from the West. With the abandonment of
the valueless Zimbabwean dollar and adoption of multi-currencies, especially the US dollar and the South
African rand, higher education became even dearer and more out of reach (Students Solidarity Trust,
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