University students to wait a bit longer

Higher and Tertiary students at various institutions in Zimbabwe will have to wait a bit longer inline with preparations for re- opening, Minister Amon Murwira has said.

In an interview with 263Bulletin, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Development Minister Proffessor Amon Murwira reiterated that June 1 was set aside to allow universities and colleges to commence preparations for re opening.

Proffessor Murwira articulated that students will be welcome at their respective campuses once all essential standards had been met and when quarantined returnees have left the premises.

Recently, the government had announced that universities would resume school on June 1, starting with final year students inline with the proposed system of tertiary instituions re-opening strategy.

“Universities are rolling out the programme of reopening. It is not like we set the date saying as from June 1 things will be happening this way,” said Proffesor Murwira.

“It is a gradual programme of opening because as you are aware, for instance, Lupane State University is still being used as a quarantine centre. There is a day that the last quarantined person will leave. It is after that day that the university will then be able to have the presence of final year students,said”, Prof Murwira.

Minister Murwira articulated that, “otherwise, we are having blended learning. Blended learning is using online learning as well as face-to-face. When it comes to face-to-face our first priority will be the final year students.”

He said June 1 was the date that universities would start implementing the blended learning programme.

“As a Ministry, we have assesed the state of preparedness of our local institutions of higher learning and they are prepared.They started preparing this noble initiative from as early as February before any announcement was made because we knew where Covid-19 was going,”he narrated.

Prof Murwira articulated that Government was aware that the biggest hindrance to online learning is the inaccessibility of data, thus they have engaged local telecommunications companies to intervene.

Government has secured a lucarative deal that e- learning services would be free for students whist data prices would be slashed.

“We engaged telecommunications companies and i’m glad that Liquid Telecom, Econet and TelOne have responded in a positive manner.Institutional websites will be like toll free lines thus each and every student will study without data hiccups”

Prof Murwira reiterated that Government has a constitutional obligation to promote access to higher and tertiary education.

“This is basically the translation of the policy pronouncement by the President. This will be done in a gradual manner, it is not going to be abrupt,” he said.

Currently, one of the country’s leading institution of higher learning, Midlands State University (MSU) announced that it will start welcoming back final year students at its various campuses from June 22.

In a letter, MSU’s registrar Mr Tinashe Zishiri articulated the terms and conditions under which students will be welcome back, with students that had paid their accommodation fees prior to the lockdown, exempted from doing so again while those that had not paid are required to pay $800.

Meals at the campuses will remain at pre-lockdown levels, while strict health regulations would have to be observed. Orientation of first year students for the August-December 2020 semester is set to commence on August 31.