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His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Mnangagwa, continues to demonstrate his visionary, people-centric and servant leadership qualities through deeply understanding the needs of the nation and enthusiastically taking appropriate actions to provide sustainable solutions for the identified fundamental needs.

President Mnangagwa has championed the launch of a personal scholarship programme christened Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa University of Zambia Scholarship Trust (ED-UNZA) in response to the need for promoting an inclusive, well-co-ordinated and universal access to tertiary education by underprivileged students in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The initiative bears testimony to President Mnangagwa’s burning desire to improve the plight of needy and academically gifted students who may fail to have access to high quality education due to financial constraints.

The sponsorship will benefit underprivileged academically gifted learners drawn from Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces.

The ED-UNZA Scholarship Trust will sponsor 15 underprivileged students annually, 10 from Zimbabwe and five from Zambia. The students will pursue fully paid undergraduate studies at the University of Zambia, as the scholarship pays the tuition and boarding fees for the selected students.

The scholarship will also cater for the welfare of the learners through provision of essential needs comprised of laptops, tablets, clothing and facilitating the travel of learners from Zimbabwe to Zambia.

The exponential growth in technological advancements has disrupted the traditional learning methods, resulting in the usage of digital learning tools at higher and tertiary education institutions. The laptops and tablets provided by His Excellency, President Mnangagwa gives the ED-UNZA scholarship beneficiaries an edge in accessing digital learning resources and developing critical thinking skills, which are the basis for the development of analytic reasoning.

Universal access to high quality education is a fundamental right for every child. It is also one of the 17 Global Goals that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aspirations of the African Union which focus on ensuring that no one is left behind through specific initiatives to address the educational needs of marginalised groups.

Through establishing the ED-UNZA Scholarship Trust, President Mnangagwa set the tone of excellence in addressing inequities in accessing high quality education. Investment in education is a key poverty reduction strategy, as well as a vehicle for producing a skilled and capable workforce which will greatly assist in Zimbabwe’s agenda of pushing the frontiers of production. Having himself attended the University of Zambia for his university education, the nation commends the President for setting-up the ED-UNZA Scholarship Trust that will sponsor underprivileged students from Zimbabwe and Zambia.