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President Mugabe who is also the Chancellor of Midlands State University, caps one of the students at the university graduation ceremony in Gweru yesterday

Midlands Bureau Chief
PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday capped a record 3,854 graduates at the Midlands State University in Gweru. Among the graduates capped by President Mugabe who is the MSU chancellor and Head of State and Government, were 106 students from Swaziland, 15 from Namibia, an Angolan and 59 from the local Trust Academy.

Addressing guests at the university’s 12th graduation ceremony, MSU vice-chancellor Professor Ngwabi Bhebhe said the university was adopting a more international and cosmopolitan nature in its enrolment through recruiting students from other nations.

He said MSU also continued to push for gender equity in its enrolment drive.
“Your Excellency and Chancellor, in response to the demands of the dynamic and ever-changing global environment we are constantly rebranding our programmes in order to produce graduates who can think innovatively, systematically and communicate effectively. Today the result of this rigorous process is a bumper harvest of a record 3,854 men and women graduands,” said Prof Bhebhe.

“In terms of gender proportions, 51 percent of the first degree recipients are female, while 49 percent are men. Forty-two percent of our post-graduates are female while 58 percent are male.”

Ninety-one of the graduates received first class degrees. MSU staff members, Ignatius Chagonda, gained a Master of Philosophy Degree in Agronomy while Simon Marimo received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education.

Two students, Dylan Musekiwa and Benny Mtetwa, graduated posthumously with a BSc Natural Resources Management Honours degree and Agriculture General degree respectively.

Prof Bhebhe said the university in pursuit of the principle of comparability and transferability of qualifications in Africa, benchmarked its degree programmes with continental standards.

He said in line with these developments the graduate school of leadership joined the elite group of 27 other leading business schools in Africa in accrediting with the Association of Africa Business Schools (AABS).

“We are pleased to inform you that the first group of our MBA students to graduate under this accreditation is among our graduands today and their certificates will bear the prestigious and internationally recognised AABS logo,” said Prof Bhebhe.

The vice-chancellor said MSU now had more qualified lecturers and supporting staff compared to the situation that prevailed in 2008.
He said in 2008 the majority of their lecturers were first degree holders owing to the brain drain that hit the country at the peak of the economic meltdown.

MSU now boosts of a teaching complement of 460 of whom 15 percent are PHD holders, 82 percent Masters holders while a mere three percent were first degree holders who were in the process of completing post graduate training, said Prof Bhebhe.

Prof Bhebhe said the university recently constructed hostels for students accommodation as part of solving the challenge of decent accommodation faced by students since the inception of MSU.

He said: “By this time last year, the total carrying capacity of our campus halls of residence stood at only 1,029 leaving many of our students to desperately search for accommodation outside campus. Currently, only 12 months down the line, we have managed to put up 24 new blocks of student residence, which translates to a total carrying capacity of nearly 3,000 students on campus, an increase of 186 percent in student accommodation.

In real terms, this significant increase in student accommodation is only a drop in the ocean compared to the student population.”
MSU has more than 15,000 students undertaking various degree programmes per given semester.

The university which is based in Gweru’s rural district of Vungu is in the process of acquiring new properties in Zvishavane as part of its expansion programme meant to house some of its teaching and research programmes.