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Lovemore Mataire Herald Reporter
University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Professor Levy Nyagura has said the institution is poised to reclaim its position among the top higher education centres in Africa following various interventions being undertaken to improve the learning environment and produce top-notch graduates.

Speaking at the launch of seven books published by the University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Arts yesterday, Prof Nyagura said the publication of the books was to improve the rating of the institution, which has in the past been affected by the general economic situation prevailing in the country.

“My expectations are very simple,” he said. “As an individual grounded in mathematics, I have 102 professors and I expect 102 books to be published every six years by one of each of the professors. What this means is that in 2017 we will be launching no less than 150 books published by Zimbabwean academics at the University of Zimbabwe.”

Prof Nyagura said the only way the University of Zimbabwe could reclaim its status as the best in Africa was through having its publications being used as references by an array of scholars and experts.

He urged lecturers and students to take research and publication seriously as their efforts are crucial in the building of a rich resource base needed by society to deal with various challenges. Besides creating an enabling environment for research and publication, Prof Nyagura said the institution had embarked on a massive project to refurbish infrastructure, most of which was in dire need of a facelift.

Prof Nyagura said the renovations and improving of the learning environment were made possible by the contributions from students’ fees.

He said a decision was reached in 2013 for students to pay an extra $50 dollars, which is set aside every semester for infrastructure rehabilitation and improvement.

“The money that we are using for this exercise is not much, it’s about $600 000 and I have made an undertaking to improve the infrastructure and create a conducive environment for learning,” said Prof Nyagura.

Director of Higher Education Programmes in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Mrs Martha Muguti, who was standing in for the Professor Jonathan Moyo commended the institution for its relentless efforts in research and publications.

“Unless academics from our universities are committed to creating and generating knowledge, Africa is destined to play second fiddle in all spheres of intellectual, technological and scientific development,” she said.

“African universities cannot continue basking in the glory of regurgitating knowledge generated from other cultural centres because whatever knowledge is generated can never be ideologically neutral, but instead, serves the generator’s interests.”

Commenting on one of the seven books titled, “Dialoguing Land and Indigenisation in Zimbabwe and Other Developing Countries: Emerging Perspectives”, Ms Muguti said Africa and Zimbabwe could not effectively benefit from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) unless the terms underwriting such investments, primarily those related to land.

She said without critical self-knowledge and the knowledge of lived philosophies, the country would not be able to borrow intelligently from other centres of scientific knowledge and technologies.