Zim universities ranked among the best in sub-Saharan Africa
Three Zimbabwean universities have been ranked among the best universities in Africa from 88 universities in 20 countries by the Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings, demonstrating the country’s commitment to higher education despite the difficult economic circumstances the nation is facing.
The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) was ranked 18th, the National University of Science Technology (Nust) 24th and Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) 51st in the 2023 Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings which were developed specifically to assess the impact of universities in addressing some of the toughest challenges faced in the region.
Indicators were carefully calibrated to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across three vital areas: teaching, research and societal impact.
The data include results from the first sub-Saharan Africa student survey, which gathered the opinions of more than 20,000 students.
This is a great milestone for Zimbabwean universities to be ranked among the best universities in Africa given the economic sanctions imposed on the country that have placed a huge burden in the operations of the country’s public universities.
The other top-ranked African universities that took part in the ranking include the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) first, while neighbouring University of Johannesburg is second and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania is third.
Times Higher Education said while South Africa has the most institutions in the top 10 (four), Nigeria is the most-represented nation overall, with 37 ranked institutions, led by Covenant University in seventh place. Universities in Uganda, Rwanda and Ghana also make the top 10.
About two-thirds of participating universities were public institutions, a quarter were private, not-for-profit organisations and about a tenth are private, for-profit organisations.
The Second Republic has been working round the clock to transform higher education in Zimbabwe to promote the production of qualified specialists and technicians especially in the natural and applied sciences, engineering and technology, the medical and health sciences, and agriculture, among other critical sectors.
The Government largely sees tertiary education a key driver of economic growth and poverty reduction as it plays a critical role in training a qualified and adaptable labour force, generating new knowledge through basic and applied research and promoting use of new and emerging technologies.
President Mnangagwa has spearheaded the adoption of the Heritage-based Education 5.0 model in the country’s institutions of higher learning to help promote research and innovation in the utilisation of local resources.
Education 5.0 is based on teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialisation and it seeks to move the nation forward toward an innovation-led and knowledge-driven economy.
This new model, which was adopted four years ago, aims to produce graduates who solve national problems instead of just being job seekers.
In 2018, President Mnangagwa spelt out a clear vision for higher and tertiary education in which he noted that the human capital development sector was key to national development.
Education 5.0 learning model has started bearing fruit as most tertiary institutions have begun to articulate President Mnangagwa’s call for technological development to drive the country towards Vision 2030 of an empowered upper middle income economy.
The President has repeatedly urged higher and tertiary education institutions to play a more significant role in national development and provide the essential knowledge and skills needed for production of quality goods and services for the industrialisation and modernisation of the nation.
“Given the shift from concentrating on the teaching of theory to practicals and entrepreneurship, our various institutions of higher and tertiary education should be torch bearers of innovations aimed at producing quality goods and services. Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo,” he remarked at the Presidential Innovation Fair in April this year.
President Mnangagwa said that in order to beat the effects of the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the West over 20 years ago, it was necessary to fast-track the country’s industrialisation and modernisation through science, technology and innovation and changing of mindsets – aptly termed the “Chimurenga chepfungwa”.
“In this regard, it is encouraging that, through the innovation hubs and industrial parks, our institutions of higher learning are nurturing start-ups, registering a record number of patents as well as developing prototypes.
“The start-ups should not perennially remain in the innovation hubs. They should graduate to become profitable and employment creating organisations that produce quality products, provide value for end-users and the quality of life of our people,” he was quotedsaying.
In 2022, Zimbabwe launched ZimSat-1, the country’s first ever satellite, into orbit.
This milestone was achieved by the country’s own scientists and engineers from the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency using local resources.
Thelaunch was expected to enhance mineral exploration, environmental monitoring, as well as mapping of human settlements and disease outbreaks, among other capabilities.
Verify Engineering, another higher and tertiary education driven organisation was now producing medicaloxygen which was critical in the fight against Covid-19. The country is now a net exporter of medical oxygen.
The establishment of innovation hubs and industrial parks at the country’s State universities in pursuit of the heritage-based Education 5.0 model is bearing fruit helping the country to save US$12 million in imports.
-The Chronicle-
