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Nehosho. Whistles and loud laughs are heard as students foot to college for their morning lectures.
Senga, which is by far one of the oldest townships in the Midlands, is now alive and students can be seen walking the streets in deep hours of the night coming from studying or a drink with the friends at a local watering hole.

Over the years the suburb, which is close to the campus, has literally evolved into becoming the unofficial MSU students’ residence catering for hundreds of undergraduates enrolled at one of the country’s largest university.
Established in 2000, the university has grown into becoming a college of choice in the country coming only third to the Zimbabwe Open University and the University of Zimbabwe.

Unfortunately the university founded from the environs of the former Gweru Teachers’ College was established during a time when the country’s economy started shrinking thus resulting in the college failing to increase accommodation to match the demand from an increasing enrollment.
The university has an enrolment of 6 000 fulltime students but can give accommodation to fewer than 200 students leaving the reminder to look for accommodation elsewhere. The university has an accommodation capacity of 1 170 rooms against a demand of about 11 000 conventional and parallel students.

MSU is not the only state college in the country that has a problem with residential flats for its students. The same problem has also been seen with the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo and the University of Zimbabwe.
Currently, NUST only has residents for 104 students and the authorities are in a quandary every year to find out who to allocate the rooms to. UZ by far the oldest institution of higher learning has 4 287 rooms on campus for students but still needs more to accommodate its ballooning student numbers.

Years of economic slump triggered by the illegal sanctions imposed on the country have not helped the situation as Government which is the largest shareholder has failed to construct additional student accommodation flats at universities leaving students at the mercy of the rent seeking landlord.
This has seen students finding lodgings in the areas situated near their campus.
The landlords or owners of the houses have turned their houses into dormitories. As enrollment and demand for accommodation increased some owners decided to maximise earning resulting in them increasing rentals.

The increase in rentals has forced students to live in groups with some ranging to as much as 10 in a room and up to 20 per house.
“We have to put our resources together so that we can pay US$300 that the landlord requires every month. As such each room can have as many as five people. The rooms also act as our study rooms so most of us have designed makeshift reading desks.
“What is important is not comfort but to come to Gweru to study and go back to the comfort of our homes with degrees. Seek luxury and you will lose your goal in this place. It’s common that students are crammed in small rooms but they have graduated to lead important sectors of the economy,” said Sandra Mutumbi, a third year student at the college.

Sandra’s sentiments are repeated by a number of other students who clearly show that they have since ceased worrying about the type of accommodation to concentrate on their education.
“It’s no use worrying about accommodation but about school. It is October and soon exams will start and sleeping comfortably will be an unnecessary luxury. I can pay the US$50 a month per room the landlord is asking so I have teamed with three of my friends to share costs.

“We use foam rubbers that we remove everyday and put behind the door to create space,” said Nyasha another student.
Shortage of accommodation has also hard hit NUST with students being forced to lodge in Matsheumhlope and Mahatshula suburbs.
Improvements had been seen at the University of Zimbabwe since the reopening of the halls of residence following the erection of a water reservoir at campus.

Students are, however, unable to get into the halls of residence as they cannot raise the US$400 required to secure accommodation.
This means that students remain disadvantaged and opt for cheaper accommodation in the surrounding suburbs.
UZ vice chancellor Levy Nyagura confirmed that the halls of residence were still vacant and appealed to Government and the corporate world to establish various mechanisms of financing the students such as loans and scholarships.
“There is need to economically empower the students so that they are able to cater for their needs. Only 1 966 rooms out of the 4 258 hostel rooms have been taken up leaving a total of

2 035 vacant,” he said.
Putting away the cost of money the hostels of residence remain few as the colleges boast of more that 10 000 fulltime students.
Prof Nyagura was recently quoted in the media saying the institution plans to build more hostels to accommodate 800 more students.

National University of Science Technology spokesperson Mr Felix Moyo said demand for accommodation at the institution amounted to 4 000 students who are being forced to lodge in the surrounding suburbs.
“Lack of funding has stalled construction programmes but plans are afoot to erect more units. There has not been any movement over the past eight years because of resource constrains but we have started movement after funds started from the public service investment programme.
“Shortage of accommodation is also affecting teaching as all students stay far from college and cannot do their research. Experiments are sometimes done at night. They go beyond 5pm and require students to constantly observe them.
“The students need to go to hostels and then come to the labs for their results but this is not possible as they can not commute to and from college during the odd hours of the day,” he said.
He urged Government to prioritise university education, as it was the bastion of any economic development.
“University education requires special attention as a distinct sector that is crucial in the economic development of any country. Let us increase funding for our university education to ensure the lecturers and students concentrate on their researches. All technology has come out of research and a worried person will not improve his performance,” Mr Moyo said.
The statements were also echoed by an official at Midlands State University who said it is painful to see students having to live in squalid conditions.
The economic situation has remained a greatest setback to all construction purposes.