Table of Contents
By Edgar Gabarinocheka
There is an uncomfortable conversation we have avoided for far too long in Zimbabwe — a national delusion that every degree holds equal weight, equal value, and equal relevance in the modern world. Meanwhile, we continue to fund a tertiary education system that has become dangerously misaligned with the demands of the economy.
Year after year, universities churn out thousands of graduates — most of whom find themselves stranded on the shores of unemployment, clutching degrees the marketplace neither asked for nor knows what to do with. This crisis is not a matter of chance. It is the predictable consequence of a system that refuses to evolve, subsidizing academic vanity while ignoring practical value.
It is time for an overhaul. And that overhaul must begin with a simple truth: not all degrees are created equal.
A Market for Degrees, A Merit for Subsidies
Let us be bold — if a degree programme is not in demand, it should not be subsidized. Let those who insist on pursuing outdated or oversupplied courses do so at market rates. Commerce degrees, now as common as maize stalks in harvest season, should be priced at US$2,000 per semester. Law — revered but saturated — should fetch US$3,000. Engineering, a pillar of economic development, can be set at a modest US$1,000 to encourage uptake.
Artisanal and vocational training — the workhorse of real economies — must be elevated, not sidelined. These courses should be offered at US$300 per semester, with state support ensuring their affordability and accessibility. They are the hidden key to unlocking employment, value addition, and national pride.
Medicine, naturally, requires a nuanced approach. The brightest minds, those with the highest academic points, must be awarded partial scholarships. Those who meet the standard with 12 points and above, but fall below the top tier, must be willing to invest US$3,000 per semester. A doctor’s journey must be earned, not merely wished for.
Passion Is a Right — But It Shouldn’t Be a Burden to the State
Let it be clear: we do not seek to crush ambition. If a young Zimbabwean is passionate about philosophy, music, or post-colonial literature — let them pursue it. But let them also pay for it. The state cannot continue to fund courses whose graduates join long queues of the idle and frustrated, simply because no one dared to ask whether the degree was ever relevant to begin with.
The taxpayer, burdened as they already are, should not be footing the bill for personal passions. Subsidies must follow merit, relevance, and national need.
Universities Must Become Engines of Value
We must also revisit the role of our universities. They cannot continue to operate like sacred temples of routine. They must transform into dynamic, profit-oriented institutions — competitive, accountable, and responsive to market forces. Lecturers, long underpaid and demoralized, must be offered market-determined wages that reflect both their value and the expectations placed upon them.
Let universities compete. Let them innovate. Let them prove the worth of the knowledge they impart by the employability of their graduates. In the age of artificial intelligence, green energy, and digital economies, we cannot afford to train yesterday’s thinkers for tomorrow’s problems.
A New Dawn for Higher Education
What Zimbabwe needs is not more degrees — it needs more relevant skills, more innovation, more hands-on talent, and more homegrown solutions. That requires courage. It requires rethinking everything we have normalized about tertiary education. And most of all, it requires a political and social willingness to say: the age of blanket subsidies is over.
Let the market decide the value of a degree. Let the state support what the nation truly needs. And let our universities finally become places where dreams meet demand.
– Credit goes to @baba_nyenyedzi of ZFN Capital (Friday Drinks) *more here – https://t.co/zEaABqKgol
