Zimbabwe

August 2009: Given the current instability in Zimbabwe, this article is brief. We require to have an entry on Zimbabwe because there are several institutions of relevance in the country, despite its current difficulties.

Partners situated in Zimbabwe

None.

Zimbabwe in a nutshell

(Sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe)

Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, and formerly Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, is a landlocked country in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east. The official language of Zimbabwe is English. However, the majority of the population speaks Shona, which is the native language of the Shona people, a Bantu Language; the other native language of Zimbabwe being Sindebele, which is spoken by the Matabele people.

The population of Zimbabwe is best estimated at around 12 million

The capital and largest city of Zimbabwe is Harare.

Zimbabwe has a centralised government but is divided into eight provinces and two cities with provincial status, for administrative purposes. Each province has a provincial capital from where official business is usually carried out.

Economy

The economy of Zimbabwe has recently been seriously affected by very high unemployment, hyperinflation, and population displacement within and to outside the country. Twenty years ago it was one of Africa's strongest economies but is now one of the world's worst. The country has reserves of metallurgical-grade chromite - other commercial mineral deposits include coal, asbestos, copper, nickel, gold, platinum and iron ore. However, its ongoing political turmoil and one of the world's highest rate of inflation have greatly hampered its progress. Farm production has also been seriously disrupted.

It is to be hoped that when political stability returns the natural talent and educated background of many Zimbabweans will suffice to regenerate the economy within a few years.

Zimbabwe education system

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Zimbabwe)

The Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture maintains and operates the government schools.

Zimbabwe had an adult literacy rate of approximately 90% which is amongst the highest in Africa. However, since 1995 the adult literacy rate of Zimbabwe has steadily decreased.

The majority of the wealthier portion of the population send their children to independent schools as opposed to the government-run schools (which have lower fees) which are attended by the poorer members of the population. School education was made free in 1980, but since 1988, the government has steadily increased the charges attached to school enrollment.

A major characteristic of Zimbabwean schools was the high priority given to sports, clubs and activities by the community, the parents, the schools and the students themselves. Extracurricular activities are educational activities not falling within the scope of the regular curriculum but under the supervision of the school. These activities can extend to large amounts of time outside the normal school day. Student participation in sports programmes, drill teams, bands, and spirit groups can amount to hours of practices and performances

Higher education

Universities in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is the host nation of the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) - see http://www.uz.ac.zw

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

The Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) - see http://www.zou.co.zw.

Interesting Programmes

There are some providers with interest or capability in e-learning:

• Theological College of Zimbabwe - http://tcz.co.zw/moodle/
• Chinhoyi University Of Technology - http://www.cut.ac.zw/indexx.html
• Africa University Virtual Classroom - http://www.africau.ac.zw/index.php?cal_m=10&cal_y=2006
• National University of Science and Technology (NUST) - http://www.nust.ac.zw

We do not feel at present that any qualify as Programmes.

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

References

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