The government says that Maths and English will not be entry requirements for colleges and universities. Saying this through the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, tertiary institutions are being advised that they can enrol students without the above requirements. Previously institutions of Higher learning required students to have Ordinary Level Mathematics and English Language to get enrol. Government has seen that for certain courses, where these subjects are deemed not necessary, institutions can enrol students.
Speaking to media, education minister, Amon Murwira, said that colleges and universities are free to use their own discretion on who to enrol without the government stipulating the minimum entry requirements.
He said, “It remains the institution’s responsibility to revise entry requirements. As a ministry, we leave such decisions to the colleges. Our role is to give direction and not directives on academic matters.”
“I might have been misconstrued when I talked about entry qualifications. I never said scrap Maths. Some tertiary institutions complained that some of the entry requirements were not relevant or matching some of the courses, and enrolment numbers were plummeting. I said if you feel a particular programme like Hotel and Catering or a purely Arts programme does not require Maths, why not revise that,” he added.
Minister Murwira stated that government’s policy for education is to be inclusive. He took note that the country needs to have specialisation. He encouraged institutions of higher education to consider a host of professionals in different areas.
“We don’t want to see a student who deserves to be in college roaming the streets, no. Ways should be found to ensure that such a person gets a chance to be in college,” said Minister Murwira.
