ON Monday, Vice-Chancellors from Zimbabwe’s public and private universities are said to have met Higher and Tertiary Education minister Frederick Shava, where deliberations on the welfare of lecturers were made.
According to media reports, the minister revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the chancellor of State universities, agreed to gravitate lecturers’ salaries towards the regional level.
This means our lecturers’ salaries will favourably compare with those of their colleagues in the region.
What a splendid move if effected.
The President is said to have urged the ministry to make sure that 2025 becomes the year of commercialisation of student innovations at our universities.
The welfare of lecturers has, indeed, been a topical issue in the country with brain drain rearing its ugly head, especially in the last three years.
Motivation is key to service delivery and the realisation that human capital is the biggest asset of each and every organisation in the world should jostle responsible authorities to look into the plight of workers.
Known theories of motivation that include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, McClelland’s theory of needs, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, Vroom’s expectancy theory, Achievement goal theory, Attribution theory, Incentive theory play a significant role in staff retention.
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When we talk of brain drain, many people think it is only the medical field that is affected, alas, higher education is in deep trouble.
Primary and Secondary Education ministry is also facing serious challenges in terms of worker turnover emanating from poor working conditions, poor remuneration and general lack of incentives.
The country continues to bleed from incessant loss of skilled personnel and if this continues unabated, the quality of education in the country will be greatly compromised.
Lecturers at colleges and universities are leaving the country en masse and action should be taken urgently to curb this disease so that the country stops haemorrhaging.
Shava, therefore, has to move with speed to implement what the President said as lecturers cannot afford to wait any longer.
Media reports indicate that at least 7 000 health workers have migrated to greener pastures in the last three years, with the United Kingdom topping the list of beneficiaries.
Nurses, care workers, laboratory scientists, doctors, pharmacists continue to leave the country citing unbearable working conditions.
The country continues to suffer economically with unprecedented closure of retail giants like OK Zimbabwe supermarkets and esteemed wholesales such as N Richards Group.
The economic policies being implemented by the Finance ministry are strangulating businesses and it is imperative for the President to revisit some of them to save the country from total collapse.
High taxation has also become a challenge, further fuelling poverty as the vicious cycle persists.
Can’t Finance minister Mthuli Ncube evaluate the impact of his policies on the general public?
The ridiculous salaries paid even to lecturers cannot sustain their families considering the fact that many of them are tenants who cannot afford the extortionate rentals being charged by landlords.
Imagine getting a meagre US$250 when one pays rentals of close to US$500 for a full house, US$200 average monthly as school fees at a mission boarding school, US$150 as grocery money per month plus other costs that include transport to and from work.
The salary is not pleasing at all and many people are suffering in silence as they fail to cover even 30% of their financial obligations.
It is sad that inflation continues to skyrocket against stagnant salaries, with buying power being threatened with complete annihilation.
Government should appreciate the dedication and diligence exhibited by tutors in the country.
These lecturers are the true pillars of our education system hence it is prudent to recognise them both intrinsically and extrinsically according to Herzberg’s two-factor theory.
Can the Higher and Tertiary Education ministry urgently address the challenges bedevilling the higher education sector.
It should also introduce non-monetary incentives to motivate our hard-working lectures.
How can we boast of having adopted Education 5.0 when we are being deserted by highly-skilled tutors under our watch?
The country has vast tracts of land which can be converted to residential land to benefit such important personnel, alas, land barons grab the same land for self-aggrandisement but most of them remain scot-free.
There have been numerous arrests of such land barons, but it seems prosecution has not been a deterrent as many of them are apply for bail even at the highest courts because they are super rich.
Given that the President has consented to a salary review for lecturers, it should be implemented promptly.
Johannes Marisa is a medical practitioner who is the current president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe.
