SPEECH BY THE VICE CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE, PROFESSOR LEVI MARTIN NYAGURA ON THE OCCASION OF THE 2014

Transcription

1 SPEECH BY THE VICE CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE, PROFESSOR LEVI MARTIN NYAGURA ON THE OCCASION OF THE 2014 GRADUATION CEREMONY Date : Friday, 12 September 2014 Time : 0900 hours Venue : UZ Athletics Sports Stadium SALUTATIONS His Excellency, The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander-In-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, and Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Her Excellency Amai Grace Mugabe; Page 1 of 20

2 The Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Honourable Joice Mujuru, MP; The Honourable Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Honourable Dr. Olivia Muchena; Honourable Ministers here present; Members of the Diplomatic Corps, here present; Honourable Members of Senate and Parliament here present; The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Dr Washington Mbizvo and Mrs. Mbizvo; Members of the University of Zimbabwe Council here present; Page 2 of 20

3 Vice Chancellors here present; University of Zimbabwe Pro Vice Chancellors; Members of the University Senate; Captains of Industry here present; Deans of Faculties; Chairpersons of Departments; Staff and Colleagues of the University of Zimbabwe; Graduands, their Families and Friends; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen. Your Excellency and Chancellor, on behalf of the University community and on my own behalf, I feel priviledged and honoured to welcome you to the Graduation Ceremony for We greatly appreciate your presence here today to confer first degrees and Page 3 of 20

4 higher degrees to graduands to be presented to you. As a tried and tested pioneering university, we like to make unique historical events. Indeed, this graduation ceremony is a historic event which is very difficult, if not impossible to repeat in the near future. Your Excellency and Chancellor, allow me to single out a very special and unique graduand, Her Excellency, The First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, who shall be presented to you for conferment of a degree. Your Excellency and Chancellor, may you also allow me to single out the Honourable Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, who shall be presented to you for conferment of a degree. Page 4 of 20

5 Indeed, ladies and gentlemen this graduation ceremony is a historic event in the 59 year history of the University. This Graduation Ceremony comes soon after Your Excellency and Chancellor assumed the Chairmanship of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). We join the rest of the people in the SADC Region, to congratulate You, the Government and the People of Zimbabwe, for successfully hosting the SADC 34 th Summit held at the majestic resort town of Victoria Falls in August Your Excellency and Chancellor, allow me to extend a special welcome to our invited guests, our strategic Page 5 of 20

6 partners, the graduands, their families and friends, for joining us to celebrate the 2014 academic achievements. To the graduands, it is indeed your day. Your sacrifices have come to fruition. Your hard work has earned you the most sought after qualifications in the country and beyond. I salute you all, as new alumni to the premiere institution. Well done! Your Excellency and Chancellor, we continue to cherish, with profound gratitude, your outstanding leadership qualities, especially your sterling efforts and consistency to promote growth in university education. The University of Zimbabwe also owes a Page 6 of 20

7 debt of gratitude to the Government of Zimbabwe under your able stewardship, for the financial support to the institution, under very difficult circumstances. The brain drain which we thought had ended, is again rearing its ugly head. In order to retain experienced staff, we continue to appeal to Government to improve our conditions of service to make us competitive regionally. Your Excellency and Chancellor, this graduation ceremony comes as Zimbabwe is implementing the national economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation (ZIM ASSET). The University of Zimbabwe has embraced the blueprint in its totality, because we realize that Page 7 of 20

8 with the concentration of knowledge workers at this institution, we should play a pivotal role in the successful implementation of ZIM ASSET. To that end, each of our Faculties and Departments has identified a niche in the blueprint and submitted concrete proposals highlighting how the University is able to collaborate with Government Departments and other players, to implement the economic agenda. In addition, we have reviewed our curriculum to promote innovation, applications of science and technology, and entrepreneurship. Our focus is to produce graduates with a strong foundation in science and technology, and with problem-solving and analytical skills. In particular, we have taken up Page 8 of 20

9 the responsibility to provide training in nanotechnology together with product development in nanomedicine. We have also excelled in the development of GIS and Earth Observation Sciences. The motivation for this development is the realization that geographic sciences are key to human security including disaster and emergency response, crime and terrorism prevention, surveillance of disease and disease vector outbreaks. Your Excellency and Chancellor, we do recognize that our society is getting more complex and heterogeneous with individuals characterized by intriguing sets of requirements. This presents a challenge that calls for a re-thinking of the nature of Page 9 of 20

10 the public service the University of Zimbabwe should render. I believe that our focus should be more on the socialization of knowledge; that is, making sure that we are significantly contributing to the sustainable socio-economic growth of the country by means of a sustained effort to produce highly-qualified professionals and making sure that the best results of our research are efficiently transferred to society. However, we have the commitment to remain open to capture the knowledge generated by society so as to sustain and further develop the intellectual and cultural base of our society. In this endeavour, the Zimbabwe indigenous knowledge is the foundation for our applied research. Page 10 of 20

11 With the prevailing positive attitudes reflective of a serious and mature institution of learning, every member of the University community is expected to be more accountable and help in uplifting high levels of academic and moral standards, and exhibit a progressive work ethic. We like to remain competitive as a university, both locally and internationally and we shall attain this through a process of total quality assurance in all our activities. We are a pioneering university and we like to show the way for others to follow by identifying the right things and doing them right. We strategically remain relevant through engaging our stakeholders and strategic partners in our quest for continuous improvement. We also believe that the University of Zimbabwe brand is a very strong one that has gained international acclaim. Page 11 of 20

12 As we rethink the role of the University in the 21 st century, we desire to be a prestigious centre of creativity and innovation. Your Excellency and Chancellor, this past academic year was a very encouraging one for us in that a significant number of our strategic partners offered scholarships to support the education of our students. We are grateful for this support whereby other players realize that the role of educating our nation and investing in human capital development should not be left to the Government alone, but should involve all stakeholders. Page 12 of 20

13 Your Excellency and Chancellor, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to University of Zimbabwe staff who have remained in the University and whose invaluable contribution has made the University what it is today. These members of staff, both academic and nonacademic, have shown great loyalty and dedication to the institution. They have shown great social commitment and engagement both driven by the supreme mission to serve mankind and the Zimbabwean society. As we re-think the role of the University in the 21 st century, we aim to make our campus a vibrant knowledge community for all our students regardless of gender, race, colour or creed. We take a holistic Page 13 of 20

14 approach to student education by nurturing both their academic as well as their socio-cultural, emotional and physical development. The activities that are offered in the University ensure that our students are meaningfully engaged while they also equip themselves with social skills for successful integration in society upon completion of their degree studies. Our priority goal is to produce highly qualified specialists who are responsible and accountable citizens of the highest integrity. Indeed, this is the philosophy that guides our operations. Your Excellency and Chancellor, we are determined and committed to train productive graduates, train highly competent and knowledgeable doctors and Page 14 of 20

15 experts, and to undertake cutting-edge research for the benefit of the Zimbabwean society. We are aware of our crucial role to sustain and further develop the intellectual and cultural base of our society, to help preserve our cultural identity and give inspiration and justified pride to Zimbabweans in the achievements attained through much sacrifice and dedication in the face of illegal sanctions. Our success in all our endeavours depends on the calibre of professors and researchers we hire and retain. I wish to reaffirm our desired goal to have over 90 per cent of members of the academic staff becoming holders of doctoral degrees. Your Excellency and Chancellor, I am happy to announce Page 15 of 20

16 that we are making good progress in realizing our goal as evidenced by the yearly increasing number of tenured academic staff graduating with genuine doctoral degrees. In the year 2013, 13 attained doctoral degrees. In the current year, over 21 members have acquired doctoral degrees and 10 are before you today. At this rate, we are assured of becoming one of the best Universities in Africa and beyond. Your Excellency and Chancellor, in the intellectual world, research is central to the generation of new knowledge which benefits society in various ways. In the health sector, critical diagnostic and therapeutic processes are enhanced through cutting-edge Page 16 of 20

17 research that results in better patient care and critical health delivery to the population. The separation of Siamese twins by a local team of surgeons led by Mr Mbuwayesango, a renowned academic at the University of Zimbabwe, testifies to our commitment to become increasingly more relevant to the Zimbabwean society. Your Excellency and Chancellor, the University has adopted an inclusive policy towards students with disabilities. As far back as 2003, students with disabilities have found a caring intellectually driven home at the University of Zimbabwe. This comprehensive affirmative action should not be interpreted as showing sympathy to any student with Page 17 of 20

18 disability. Instead, it is a means to empower these students so that they become independent citizens of our country. Your Excellency and Chancellor, today I present to you 28 graduands with various disabilities. Your Excellency and Chancellor, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) continues to be the major driving force behind our ability to undertake our core business in an efficient and effective manner. Our staff and students enjoy excellent electronic resources. Our e-resources are available at a speed of 268 Mbps which shall increase to 339 Mbps from November Our learning and research environment will be greatly enhanced by the planned High Performance Computer. Page 18 of 20

19 May I now present facts and figures about today s business. Your Excellency and Chancellor, it is my singular honour to present to you 2716 graduands for conferment with first degrees; 545 Masters degrees and 13 Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The graduands are drawn from nine Faculties and the College of Health Sciences. Among the graduands are 139 Medical Doctors; 10 Dental Doctors; 57 Pharmacists; 17 Veterinary Doctors; 279 Accountants; 102 Lawyers; 18 Radiologists; 13 Computer Scientists; 125 Agricultural Experts; and last but not least 99 Engineers. Among the Bachelors degree graduands, 67 are graduating with First Class passes. Page 19 of 20

20 Finally, let me conclude by expressing our special congratulations to the graduands for a job well done. Once again, Makorokoto! Amhlope! Congratulations! I Thank You. Page 20 of 20