FUNDING STRATEGIES
Presentation by Mr. G. T. Gurira
Principal Director HR, Admin and Finance
Role of Higher Education in
National Development
• The role of higher education in national development is uncontested
• Higher education and its constituent institutions have an immense
social and public responsibility
• Higher education avails to society a critical mass of citizenry who
possess the capability to engage the most intractable problems of
society
• It produces the skilled graduates, professionals and intellectuals with
the stamina to drive economic, social and political development
The Zimbabwe Higher Education
Sector
The Zimbabwe higher education sector has undergone massive expansion
since 1980
From one public university at independence it now has 15 universities,
nine (9) public and six (6) private
The system is expected to grow even larger in 2012 with the addition of
three new public universities and probably one private university i.e.
the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe
The current enrolment in our higher education system is in excess of
55000
FUNDING
THE CHALLENGES
 The effects of massification i.e. increased numbers in
higher education is a world wide phenomena from
which Zimbabwe and other developing nations have
not been spared
 Increased enrolments have a direct bearing on quality
assurance
 The major challenge is how do you provide quality
education in a context of increased numbers against a
background of limited and dwindling funding
Challenges (cont.)
 Currently the entirety of our public higher education
institutions are heavily dependent on the fiscus for capital
and recurrent expenditures
 On average it is estimated 80% of budgetary support is
from the fiscus, 15% fees and 5% from other sources
 This is obviously unsustainable: there is need for HEIs to
diversify funding sources especially in a context where the
cake is getting smaller
 The crisis of our institutions is worsened/exacerbated by
the formidable economic, social and political challenges
encountered by our nation in the ten years following the
onset of the land reform programme (2001 to 2010).
Challenges cont....
 When the macro economic environment took a nose dive, the
institutions could not escape the irresistible vortex triggered by
the land revolution.
 Resultant scenario:
- massive brain drain
- lack of infrastructural development (given that
most of our institutions were born during this
most challenging period in the history of our
nation).
-inability of higher education institutions to deliver on v
their mandates.
-low staff morale
The three pillars of a successful
higher education system
Planning(ensuring all planning documents align
with educational planning).i.e. Higher and
Vocational education
2. Quality assurance (as discussed)
3. Funding
- Percentage of national budget that goes to higher
education
-Institutional funding arrangements
-Student educational support arrangements
1.
FUNDING STRATEGIES
 Situation in institutions has slightly improved
following the signing of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA)
 Institutions are back to the normal semester system
and enrolments have improved.
 The real challenge is to prepare our HEIs for global
competitiveness
 Public HEIs and private HEIs are expected to be
innovative in devising funding strategies if they are to
survive
Funding strategies (cont.)
Suggested strategies:
 PPPs – where private player performs service delivery on administrative
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function and assumes associated risks in return for a predetermined fee
PPPs described by the Honourable Minister S. Mudenge as one of the
practical and viable strategies to mobilise resources for our HEIs
Joint Ventures (JVs) with willing partners in academic related ventures
e.g. Printing Press and Publishing House
Commercial Agriculture – example of Chinhoyi University joint
venture with Chinese firm.
Short courses/ programmes
Collaborative Research/Consultancies
Centres of excellence
Industrial doctorates and incubation centres
Fundraising e.t.c e.t.c
Thank you