Parliament urges government to upgrade local universities to save money on foreign scholarships

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology Development has urged the government t upgrade local universities to international standards so that students being awarded scholarship to study abroad can study at local institutions and save foreign currency.

The committee recommended that future awards of scholarships should target local universities and colleges unless capacity to train in the specific fields is not locally available.

“This will help the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in reducing pressure on foreign currency allocations,” committee chair Peter Mataruse said when he presented a summary of recommendations for the ministry for the 2018 budget.

“The Committee also suggests that upgrading of some local universities to international standards will help so that parents send their children at local universities. This will also reduce pressure on foreign currency resources”

The Committee also recommended efficient control and financial accountability systems to the Ministry’s statutory bodies such as colleges, universities, ZimDef and other specialised projects to limit leakage of resources.

Full recommendations

HON. DR. MATARUSE: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me time to present a Report of the Portfolio Committee of Higher Education, Science and Technology Development. Allow me to go straight to the recommendations.

1. There should be timeous disbursement of funds allocation to all budget items. Budget items towards operations and capital expenses have traditionally been accorded less priority when it comes to disbursements.

2 The STEM programme should focus on training students from universities and tertiary education. This means that after paying fees for 5 136 high school students who are already in the stream, the programme should be restricted to skills training and development of students from universities and tertiary institutions. This has potential to harness benefits quickly for economic development. The Committee noted that a sub programme on cattle breeding which falls under STEM received no funding in 2018. However, the Committee recommends that ZIMDEF in collaboration with Chinhoyi University should spearhead the completion of this project.

The Committee also discovered that cattle breeding can be viewed as a private investment project that can attract private players rather than funding – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –

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