1 Chapter 1 Introduction: ICT and Higher Education

1 Introduction
Driven by the need to increase productivity, quality and growing pressure on
traditional education and training to provide access to far larger numbers of students
of all ages, and at the same time meeting the challenges of competition, a crisis of
confidence in the traditional educational approaches, and dwindling funding in real
terms for education and training purposes in the public sector, most HE institutions
have embraced Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a solution.
Globalization and the information age entail that countries build a skilled and
adaptable workforce for the new Knowledge economy and ICTs are a participant in
university education. There is growing consensus on the importance of ICT in
enabling social, economic and political growth in developing countries, and their
contribution to education is increasingly seen as invaluable. A proliferation of activity
focused on using ICT to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of education
systems globally has been underway mainly because the technologies offer
extraordinary potential functionality that has stimulated an inert desire to understand
how best these functions can support and improve people’s ongoing learning.

The World Bank, UNESCO as well as regional bodies such as the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and Southern African Development Corporation
(SADC) have encouraged the integration of ICTs in HE in Africa, and many countries
have embraced them. At issue in the integration of ICTs in HE is not merely the mode
of delivery of higher education, for example, the traditional form of lectures and
seminars, but also the entire institutional structure, which is affected by ideas such as
lifelong learning and global distance learning. ICTs and their applications have
brought new demands about knowledge and the skills required to function effectively
in changing technological and business environments. In African countries like
Zimbabwe, ICTs have brought budgetary challenges, which have to be weighed
against other already existing challenges like poverty, drought and the AIDS
pandemic the whole continent is already facing. The issue then for developing
countries according to Bates (2000), is not one of direction, but readiness and scale
and a matter of timing and priorities. Has Zimbabwe really taken the ICT route? Is it

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ready to have its institutions adopt ICTs, and at what scale? Is it prepared to prioritize
the diffusion of ICTs?

There are important educational benefits to be had from the use of ICTs in education;
however, for these benefits to be achieved, a major effort is needed to provide suitable
levels of investment, adequate training and restructuring of the teaching process
(Bates, 2000). All these issues need to be encapsulated in a sound country policy,
which will then be passed onto institutional policies. If given a chance, ICTs may
reshape higher education in Africa, as well as help make strides towards the bridging
of the digital divide. Thus ICT is a policy issue in HE and this study is an examination
of the status of ICT in Higher Education in Zimbabwe and the implications of policy
on this status.

2 Problem Statement
Computer technology is bringing rapid and profound change to HE, as it has to
virtually every aspect of Zimbabwean society. As technology continues to spread in
the country, and as most jobs become increasingly knowledge based, Higher
Education is faced with the task of producing graduates that fit into the industry, as
well as compete in work environments that are getting more global. Higher Education
institutions in Zimbabwe also find themselves in competition with each other, with
regional institutions and indeed international institutions, as education becomes a
commodity on the global market. Hence there is a need to constantly improve their
educational offerings as well as the means through which they offer them. The
integration of ICTs seems to be one of the best ways in which higher education
institutions in Zimbabwe can make themselves efficient, competitive and attractive,
and there has been increasing acknowledgement of this fact throughout the country.
Nonetheless, this acknowledgement has not transformed into a national policy, which
is necessary for the regulation and articulation of ICT issues to enable institutions to
effectively adopt them. A lot of initiatives have been evident in the adoption of ICTs,
but in the absence of a national policy framework, these initiatives have met with a lot
of problems.

The diffusion of ICTs in Africa in general has been slow, more so in Education.
Domatob (1998: 87) cites the World Bank (1992) as saying that between 1980 and

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1990, enrolments in African universities was estimated to have grown by 60 percent,
but the instructional technology facilities had not kept up with the growth. However, a
lot of African countries have taken the first steps towards an effective integration of
ICTs into their systems, that is, coming up with national ICT policies, which will
regulate and encourage the diffusion of ICTs. Zimbabwe has still to come up with one
and it is the concern of this study that institutional policies on ICT might not be
enough to support the diffusion of ICT in HE in the country. To put this forward, this
study has to first of all display the importance of policy in the adoption of ICTs.

This study, thus, seeks to look at the extent to which Zimbabwean higher education
institutions have integrated ICTs into their systems, both on paper and on the ground.
The basic assumption of this study is that the status of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe is
poor and the lack of a national policy on ICT has been the underlying cause. By
looking at two universities with different foci, this study hopes to highlight the
centrality of a policy framework in the adoption of ICTs. The two institutions that the
study will look at are; the University of Zimbabwe, the oldest and biggest institution
in the country and the National University of Science and Technology, the only
university set up by the government with a bias towards science and technology.
These institutions will be looked at in terms of, their inclinations towards ICT
expressed in policy documents, mission statements and strategic plans, the
technological infrastructure that is available, as well as resources to maintain and
increase the same, and how they differ in terms of status. Based on the findings, the
extent to which policies at the institutions has influenced the status will be seen and
an assessment of whether these policies are sufficient for the diffusion of ICT made.

3 Principal Research Questions

This study looks at the status of Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) in Higher Education (HE) in Zimbabwe and the extent to which policy affects
it. The project thus seeks to address two key research questions:
 What is the status of ICT in Higher Education in Zimbabwe in terms of
technologies supporting teaching and learning (use of computers, email and
internet), delivery of educational resource (internet) and administration
(information systems)? This is the principal research question, which seeks to
explore the extent to which institutions have integrated ICTs.

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  How does policy affect the status of ICT in Higher Education? Here
institutional policy as expressed in mission statements and strategic plans will
be looked at, and it will be assessed whether these are sufficient for an
effective adoption of ICTs.

4 Background
Information and communication technologies hold the promise of enormous positive
influence on our countries’ economic and social development.1

Changes in Higher Education in Africa

(Educational change is) negotiated through conflicts between and within beauracratic,
economic and social demands. In an increasingly complex society, group interests and the
ideologies supporting them are experienced chiefly through highly breaucraticised
institutions, which establish their own logic of development. But nothing is automatic.
Changes occur sometimes accidentally, when the right configuration of feelings, ideologies
and power coincide (Kogan, 1982 cited in Ball, 1990:16)

Higher education in Africa has been facing many challenges including deficiencies in
leadership and management (Domatob 1998), increasing numbers of students,
demands for accountability, reduction in public funds, restructuring and downsizing,
change management, and brain drain (Lishan, undated). African universities have
fulfilled their post independence role of training a cadre of civil servants, and they are
now expected to prepare students to participate in a changing global economy 2 with
resources that continue to shrink. HE in Zimbabwe also faces this predicament and the
two cases chosen will help in highlighting the extent of this predicament for the
country.

For a long time, HE institutions in Zimbabwe, as with HE institutions everywhere in

Africa, and particularly universities have enjoyed a unique economic standing as
quasi monopolies funded by the state, but not particularly accountable to society or
the industry. However, with globalization, the times they are a changing. On the one
hand, globalization expects African nations to create conditions for economic and
social development through producing more and better educated citizens, and
1
Ministerial Statement at the 34th session of the commission
2
10th General Conference of the Association of African Universities, at http://ww.aau.org

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increasing knowledge production, yet on the other hand, it introduces pressures to
reduce the role and contribution of central government in education. The double
edged challenge for African Higher Education then, according to Cloete et al (2002),
becomes to produce more graduates with high level knowledge skills, but with less
direct government support per graduate.

In addition to dealing with internal problems of resources, HE institutions in Africa

are competing with each other within countries as well as regionally (Katz and
associates, 1999). What is needed then for higher education in Africa is the
institutional ability to fight many wars on different fronts, at the same time
maintaining and sometimes even exceeding their performance on their core functions
as ideological apparatuses as well as generating new knowledge. This might sound
like a very tall order, considering all the other challenges that come with being a
higher education institution in a developing country, but as Katz and associates (1999)
put it, we have to have unwavering belief in Higher education’s mission and the
capacity of colleges and universities to renew themselves continually in the face of
new challenges and opportunities.

Although new technologies and competition will likely threaten those institutions that
do not make wise strategic choices, these forces will permit many others to extend
their mission, to enhance the quality of their offerings and to enrich the experience of
learning and scholarship. Thus, new competition and information will impel
institutions to rethink their instructional products and, in particular, their markets. Dr
Abraham Ndiwane writing in the foreword in Domatob (1998) indicates that the need
for computer technology as an educational tool is even more crucial in the African
context as it facilitates not only proximal but distance learning as well. He says,
If Sub-Saharan African universities hope to ever fulfill their intended mission as
institutions of higher learning, research and scholarship, then computer acquisition,
training and utilization is imperative. (Ndiwane in Domatob 1998: Foreword)
If that is the case then, the place of policy needs to be determined, and a background
to the importance of policy in the diffusion of ICT seems imperative at this point.

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4.1 A National ICT Policy for Zimbabwe
There has been a general acknowledgement of the importance of ICT to the country,
particularly in the field of education. This has been indicated by institutional policies
on ICT in various institutions, as well as ICT initiatives. However, this has not
translated into a national policy to support this diffusion. The lack of a country ICT
policy has made it difficult for institutional initiatives on ICT, as there are no
preconditions that only a national policy can put in place.

In 1996, African Heads of State adopted the African Information Society Initiative
(AISI).3 The objective of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) member States
in adopting AISI was to have an African Information Infrastructure through access to
the Global Information Infrastructure for developmental needs and to build their own
National Information and Communication Infrastructures (NICI).4 All countries were
supposed to come up with their national plans, but Zimbabwe has been conspicuously
quiet regarding its progress. Information regarding Zimbabwe’s progress does not
appear on any reports known to this writer. The development of a national NICI
policy was required to provide a strategic framework to harness the full spectrum of
ICT potential leading to economic growth and social benefits, 5 and the fact that
Zimbabwe has not come up with one seriously undermines any efforts to adopt ICTs
in the country.

The elaboration of an ICT policy is a major determinant factor in setting-up the

underlying supporting infrastructure and enhancing the optimal use of the technology.
The policy should aim at sustaining the country’s vision and goals, embracing
strategies and action programs, which will ensure the building of information,
knowledge, and decision support systems to enhance socio-economic growth and
policy formulation utilizing information and communications technologies 6. The
Impending national ICT policy in Zimbabwe has been a long time coming, but finally,
a taskforce on ICT that was formed is now in the process of drafting one. Initiatives
on ICT (e.g. the president donating computers) especially in the education sector that
3
http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/ accessed on 01/03/2005
4
http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/ accessed on 01/03/2005
5
NICI plans or policies can be defined as "an integrated set of decisions, guidelines, laws, regulations and other mechanisms
which are geared to directing and shaping the production, acquisition and use of ICTs
6
http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/country_profiles/NICI%20in%20Africa.htm#Towards%20ICT%20policy accessed on
01/03/2005

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have been happening all along have been occurring in a policy vacuum. It has thus
been the dilemma of this study whether institutional initiatives with no support from a
national policy, are sufficient in the diffusion of ICTs in Zimbabwe.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)7 held in Geneva in December
2003 offered a unique opportunity for the world community to discuss and give shape
to the information society by bringing together key players such as governments,
international organizations, private sector, civil society/NGOs. It aimed at addressing
the central issues raised by the information society and related to policy formulation,
socioeconomic development as well as cultural, ethical and technological concerns,
including,
 Building the ICT infrastructure

 Universal and equitable access to the information society

 Services and applications

 User needs;

 Developing a framework for building the information society

 ICTs in education (WSIS 2003:8).

It was these developments globally as well as regionally that fuelled my curiosity on
the status of ICTs in Zimbabwe, and eventually resulted in a study of this status in HE
institutions in the country. It was also the fact that Zimbabwe has no national ICT
policy, when it is said to be the most important basis for the diffusion of ICTs that
made me want to evaluate whether institutional policies are enough. But before this
issue is further explored, a closer look at what it is that we are talking about when we
talk of ICTs seems proper.

5 The Nature of Technology

Smith (1994) argues that technology is a social and economic process and not simply
a technical process, but one might want to know what technology itself involves.
Smith has defined it in a very detailed way. For him, technology involves:
Knowledge related production: it implies understanding the competence relevant to
material transformations. This knowledge ranges from abstract scientific knowledge
through to engineering know-how or operative skill (often tacit and unwritten).

7
http://www.escwa.org.lb/wsis/about/main.html accessed on 01/03/2005
8
http://www.escwa.org.lb/wsis/about/main.html accessed on 01/03/2005

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 Organization: the management and coordination systems which integrate individual
activities and through which production takes place, or through which the public
sector activity is organized.
Techniques: that is machines, tools or other equipment with their rules and processes
of operation and their ancillary activities such as maintenance, repair and training
(1996:6).
Thus Smith views technology as the integration of knowledge, organization and
technique within a social framework (Smith, 1994). Modern education emphasizes
submission to authority, rote memorization and what Freire called the “banking
concept” of education in which learned teachers deposit knowledge into passive
students, inculcating conformity, subordination and normalization. However, a more
flexible economy, based on an ever-evolving technological infrastructure and more
multicultural workforce demands a more technically literate, interactive, culturally
sensitive and educated workforce and revitalizing democracy requires the
participation of informed citizens (Kellner 1998).

Kellner (1998) states that in order to respond intelligently to the dramatic

technological revolution of our time, the conception of computer literacy needs to be
expanded from using computer programs and hardware to a broader concept of
information and multimedia Literacy. In his expanded conception, computer literacy
involves learning how to use computers, access information and educational material,
use email and list-serves and construct Web sites. It encompasses learning to find
sources of information, and also learning how to distinguish between good and bad
information or what Burbles and Callister (2000)9 identify as misinformation,
malinformation, messed-up information and mostly useless information.

Castells (1993) has asserted that developing economies can benefit substantially from
their quick access to high technology (if they can sustain it) through transfer. For
Higher Education, it is hoped that ICTs will make access to tertiary institutions easier,
promote equity, enhance flexibility and improve the quality of education while
reducing costs. Bates (2000) seems to agree with this view, albeit with some
qualification, where he asks the question, “At what point should a nation start
investing in educational applications of the Internet?” His answer is “immediately, but

9
cited in Kellner ()

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not for everyone” and he goes on to qualify that few developing countries have the
resources, the technology infrastructure or the skilled workforce necessary, and that
when resources are scarce, they need to be concentrated and very focused (Bates,
2000).

For technology transfer to trigger development, countries need, among other things, a
skilled labor force, technicians, engineers and scientists able to adapt their skills
continuously to the fast pace of technological change, a research system able to
assimilate discoveries taking place in the advanced areas of the world, adapt them to
the country’s specific needs and gradually be able to participate in international
scientific networks, and an institutional system able to link scientific research,
technical applications, and training of the labor force in the context of a process of
technological transfer (Castells, 1993) . All this cannot be achieved without Higher
Education institutions whose function it is to train countries labor forces as well as to
do research. According to Bates (2000), the role of the university in particular is
important as a prestigious national university can provide a model of the benefits and
services available through the Internet and develop at least an elite with the skills
needed for ICT development. This will help the nation to build an affordable and
targeted technology infrastructure to participate in regional collaborative projects, to
develop partnerships with institutions in other countries, to identify and adapt suitable
programs from other countries and to develop its own programs where appropriate
(Ibid). Three functions of ICTs in HE are going to be looked at in this study, teaching
and learning, delivery of educational resources and administration.

5.1 Interactive Technologies for Teaching and Learning

There are many technologies that support interactive teaching and learning.
According to James (2001), some of these can be used generally in any education and
training program, such as white boards overhead projectors and power point
presentations, while some can be referred to as specialist technologies such as
woodwork equipment or language laboratories. Email is found in this category as
increasingly, lectures and students in higher education communicate through it. The
Internet can also fall in this category although in most cases it is used as a resource.

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The predominant technology being used for e learning in the developed world is the
World Wide Web, which in turn relies on the Internet (Bates, 2000)10.

5.2 Delivery of Educational Resources

As a content provider, the Internet is arguably the largest and most diverse
information resource today, and as an information platform; it is a source of
development information as well as a means for expression of cultural identity. The
development of globally linked networks driven by the Internet provides
instantaneous access to global knowledge resources, which is very valuable for both
students and lecturers in African Higher Education Institutions. The availability of
new content development and management tools provides academic communities
with the ability to publish information, thereby reversing the flow of information,
which has traditionally been from North to South, and giving a chance to the
academic communities in Africa to be heard.

Email links and access to literature in electronic format are doing something to reduce
the isolation of academic staff in the universities of the south (Perraton 2000). Given
that the majority of the citizens have no access to the Internet, Higher Education
should be the one place that people are able to make use of these technologies in
preparation for the world of work.

5.3 Administration
Technologies have a crucial role in supporting higher education, particularly in day-
to-day management and administration. According to James (2001), while some basic
technologies such as telephones have long been in use, there is growing understanding
that ICTs provide significant opportunities for generating savings and also for leading
to more effective management and administration systems. The growing use of
databases together with the use of email to facilitate quick, low-cost communication,
are applications that can prove to be cost-effective. Traditional libraries are being

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Through the use of browsers and a relatively simple programming language (HTML), the web provides universal standards
and interoperability between different machines and operating systems, which allows for global access (ibid). The web can be
transmitted through already-existing infrastructure such as analogue telecommunications networks, as well as through high speed
digital networks, giving it a wide range of flexibility. It is also a relatively low-cost technology for education for several reasons;
there is relatively low cost of entry for educational suppliers; development of material is relatively low cost because of a simple
computing language (HTML) for creating materials and the development of intermediary course authoring software such as
WebCT and Blackboard that enable web sites to be easily constructed; because the web uses internet, there is no direct charge for
independent pockets of information as in the case of voice telephone calls. Pricing is by volume (the size of the pipe into the
institution), and not by time or distance, and since most current applications use narrow bandwidth the transmission costs for the
supplier become minimal.

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revolutionized by web based information systems in most universities. African Higher
Education can benefit a lot from the cataloguing of their university libraries, as this
will make them more efficient. However, as in all innovations, there is always a
downside; ICTs do not come without challenges.

5.4 Challenges
While ICTs have the potential to offer a lot of opportunities to Higher Education in
Africa, they also present Higher Education Institutions with a number of challenges in
trying to access and utilize them. Thus it is important to heed Kellner’s advice that in
response to the excessive hype concerning new technologies, and education, it is
important to maintain the critical dimension and to reflect upon the nature and effects
of new technologies.

5.4.1 Cost

The provision of ICTs is expensive and cost is the single most important bottleneck in
the diffusion of ICTs in Higher Education in Africa. There exists a gap between
understanding the potential of information and communication technologies in
transforming Higher Education and other development priorities in Africa. African
governments are confronted with a lot of survival issues like fighting the AIDS
pandemic, issues of poverty, drought and a lot more, so much so that putting
investment in ICTs is left to donors. Changes in satellite technology and changes in
the price, availability and power of computers may have had profound effects on
Higher education elsewhere, but the same cannot be said for Africa, as cost remains a
major hindrance in the diffusion of ICTs in African Higher Education. Equipment and
software remain very expensive, especially when pitted against the income levels and
budget allocations. This is exacerbated by import duties in most African countries.
Most tax regimes still treat computers and cell phones as luxury items, which makes
these almost exclusively imported commodities all the more expensive, and even less
obtainable by the majority (Africa Connectivity 2002). Although there have been
notable efforts in some countries to reduce duties on computers, however
communications equipment and peripherals are still often charged at higher rates. It is
here that national ICT policies become essential as they serve to articulate, regulate
and encourage the diffusion of ICT.

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5.4.2 Connectivity

A second challenge that the continent faces is that of connectivity. Although the
African Connectivity (2002) reports that all of the 54 countries and territories in
Africa have Internet Access in the capital cities 11, connectivity in Africa is still very
poor. Of the approximately 816 million people in Africa in 2001, it is estimated that
only 1 in 4 have a radio (205m), 1 in 13 have a TV (62m), 1 in 35 have a mobile
phone (24m), 1 in 40 have a fixed line (20m), 1 in 130 have a PC (5.9m), 1 in 160 use
the Internet (5m), 1 in 400 have pay-TV (2m) (World Development Report 2004).
The growth of the Internet has speeded and transformed communication between
those who have access to it and for Africa, a big number of institutions do not have
access, and where it is present, it is very slow.

Many countries have extremely limited power distribution networks, which do not
penetrate significantly into rural areas (Africa Connectivity 2002). Inadequate
telecommunication infrastructure is also a major problem in connectivity. Most
African countries have limited telecommunication networks and the Internet is
dependent upon it. According to Ivala (1999), the number of telephone lines per 100
people, a measure known as "teledensity” is perhaps the largest constraint to Internet
connectivity in Africa. Africa has the lowest number of telephone lines per capita in
the world and the existing telecommunication infrastructure is in very poor condition,
placing Africa at a serious comparative disadvantage in a world where information
technology has become the engine of economic growth.

5.4.3 The “Digital divide”

The unequal access to ICTs has been termed the digital divide. This digital divide
exists at various levels including within countries, between countries and within
groups of nations, and in embracing ICTs, Higher Education in Africa is also faced
with problems that arise from this divide. On the other hand, African Higher
Education institutions can make use of the opportunities that ICTs offer and make
strides towards the bridging of this gap. Africa is presently at the bottom of the ICT
ladder and this has serious implications for the continent as ICTs are propelling the
economies of those countries that are ICT-rich faster compared to those that are ICT-

11
http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa/ accessed 02/05/2004

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poor, thus further widening the development gap between Africa and the
industrialized world.12 In order to stop the further widening of this gap, African
countries, despite all the challenges, still need to quickly jump onto the technological
bandwagon, and what better area to start than education, particularly Higher
Education. However, a discussion on the digital divide is beyond the scope of this
study

5.4.4 Brain Drain

One of the critical ICT problems in Africa is the shortage of relevant manpower. In
most African countries, basic computer skills in terms of being able to use the
computer for such applications as word processing, is lacking. This shortage of ICT
manpower is partly responsible for the low representation of Africa on the worldwide
web, and it is further compounded by the brain drain that has plagued Africa. This is a
situation in which African brains, especially those in the ICT fields are lured into the
developed world13. It is particularly worsened by the ever-deteriorating economic state
of most African countries. As of 1999, it was reported that more than 30,000 Africans
with PhDs were living outside the continent (Cogburn and Adeya, 1999 in Ya’u
2002). Countries of the North have been putting in place all sorts of immigration
controls against the movement of non-intellectual workers of developing countries,
but on the other hand they have been luring Africa’s best and experienced brains into
their countries (Ya’u, 2002). The resulting brain drain is affecting the capacity of
developing countries to engage in research and development in their countries as the
best and qualified brains are emigrating to the North. What this means is that African
countries act as the training ground for the northern countries to the detriment of their
own continent. It is therefore, the prerogative of the African governments to look into
retention policies as well as incentives to keep their brains within Africa.

The new technologies thus present a lot of challenges for Higher education and given
these challenges, one might be tempted to think that it is not worth Africa’s while to
meddle with new problems when it already has enough to deal with. However one
should not forget that the global forces sweeping the world cannot be avoided, and

12
Ya’u Y.Z Confronting the Digital Divide: An interrogation of the African Initiatives at bridging the gap 4/26/2002
13
The seriousness of the African brain drain problem prompted the Economic Commission for Africa
to set up a committee to study the problems of African Brain Drain and how the African Diaspora can
contribute in the process of building the African information network.

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Africa, with all its problems, cannot afford to be left further behind. As Leu and
Kinzer (2000) put it, just as public education was thought to be a necessary
prerequisite to a better quality of life, which led to a guarantee of education for all,
policy makers are beginning to realize that access to technology will be a prerequisite
to quality of life and employment opportunities, even in Africa.

The issue of ICTs has been likened to a fast moving bandwagon driven by the
developed countries and onto which Africa has to jump before it is left behind. The
reasons why Africa has to jump onto the bandwagon are apparent only to a few, and
understood by even fewer people. Perhaps a look at the changes that have been
happening in Africa’s higher education may illuminate some of the reasons why
Africa, particularly its HE institutions have to jump onto the technological
bandwagon.

6 Policy Issues on ICT

Science and technology policy issues lack a vibrant and popular constituency in
Africa. There is a certain 'surrender mentality' that is so pervasive that Africa has
apparently reached the conclusion that we not only have to import technology; we
don't even need good policies to adopt them. Although the landscape of HE is being
dramatically altered by technologies, relatively little attention has been given to policy
issues surrounding and impacting on the adoption of ICTs in Zimbabwe. This
information gap persists despite the increase in initiatives on ICTs at institutional
level. In order to help address this crucial lack of information, this study set about
examining the status of ICT at two HE institutions in the country, with a view to
highlighting policy issues and their central role in the adoption of ICTs.

“Without innovative public policy, technologies could become a source of exclusion,

not a tool of progress”, reads the UNDP Human Development Report (2001) 14.
Effective diffusion of ICTs requires a strong policy base, which gives direction,
regulates and encourages their adoption. It is even more so in Africa where
technology has to compete for resources with other development priorities such as
diseases like HIV and AIDS, poverty, and droughts.

14
http://www.atpsnet.org/default.asp accessed on 28/03/2005

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7 Significance of the Study
My first real encounter with a computer was after I had graduated from the University
of Zimbabwe in 1997, now working as a teaching assistant at the same institution and
having to teach myself to use the computer on a project. Thereafter, I discovered that
the computer became an essential part of my working life, and I have always felt that
if I had learnt about computers at the UZ, my life would have been made so much
easier. When I came to Europe and had an opportunity to do my masters, I saw how
computers are so much a part of everyday life, particularly at the University of Oslo. I
began to wonder how far institutions of higher learning back home had managed to go
in adopting ICTs, and thus sparked an interest to investigate. This study is thus driven
primarily by my own curiosity piqued by the status of ICT in Higher Education in
Norway. It will thus be significant first and foremost in informing my curiosity on the
status of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe and the policy issues surrounding them.

The study is important in what it could reveal about the status of ICTs in HE
institutions in Zimbabwe in today’s globalised society. It will be able to outline the
policy issues that surround the adoption of ICTs and how they in turn impact on the
status. As such, it will be useful to policy makers, both in the Ministry of Higher
Education and at the institutions chosen for this study. This study can be considered a
primer in issues of technology and educational policy in Zimbabwe and it is hoped
that it will trigger reflections, encourage discussion and action by researchers and
policy makers.

I will also try in this study to relate policy literature, studies and frames to the
emerging uses and policies of ICTs in Higher Education. This will be done to try to
get at policy research models and make a contribution to understanding the
formulation of policy in a Zimbabwean context. There is very little that has been
written on ICT in Higher education in Zimbabwe, and this thesis will add to the
existing literature on the subject. Zimbabwe has not yet formulated a national ICT
policy, and hopefully this study will be able to inform on the importance of having
such a policy in the country.

15
8 Limitations of the Study
Higher Education is a very broad sector, and for the purposes of a single Masters’
thesis, it would not be feasible to look at all institutions that make up HE in
Zimbabwe. As such, HE in this context has been reduced to mean Universities, and
this automatically excludes a very big area in HE in which ICT initiatives may be
underway, and that constitutes the first limitation of this study. Furthermore, there are
about twelve universities in Zimbabwe today, but for the purposes of this study, only
two were chosen mainly because again it was not practical in view of the limited time
and resources for this study to look at all the universities. The choice of the
universities in itself can be seen as a limitation, as the universities were not chosen at
random, but they were chosen for their unique characteristics, and what they could
reveal about HE, ICT and policy in Zimbabwe. The University of Zimbabwe was
chosen because it is the oldest and biggest institution in the country and commanding
the most resources, and yet probably the most conservative when it comes to change,
and it would be interesting to see how far it has come in terms of adopting ICTs in
policy and practice. The National University of Science and Technology was chosen
because it is the first and only university set up by the government for the purposes of
science and technology, and thus it would be interesting to see what it has to offer.

A third limitation of the study is the fact that two cases were chosen, and as a result
issues at these institutions cannot be looked at in depth due to time and resource
constraints. However, the advantage of looking at two universities is that when the
results are compared at the end, a stronger case can be argued on the status of ICT in
Higher Education and the influence of policy in Zimbabwe.

9 Structure of the Thesis

In the next chapters, the content of the study is divided as follows: Chapter 2 presents
a conceptual as well as a theoretical framework for the study. Chapter 3 presents the
methodology of the study, explaining the choice and use of qualitative methods.
Chapter 4 presents a general context of the study including the country’s history and
the current socio-economic and political context. It also presents the two cases chosen
for the study. Chapter 5 presents the interview findings and analysis and Chapter 6
presents the discussion, recommendations and conclusion.

16
2 Chapter 2 Contextual and Theoretical Framework

10 Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to put the study into a theoretical context. Kvale (1996) says
that the theoretical basis of an investigation provides the context for making decisions
on analysis. Two theoretical approaches relevant to understanding the roles of social
institutions and social actors in the creation of change in higher education (Cloete and
Maassen, 2002) will be looked at; resource dependency and neo-institutional theory.
Resource dependency theory will be used because ICTs are a resource intensive
endeavour, and the theory will help shed light on why and how ICTs are being
adopted in Zimbabwe even though there is no country policy to back them. Neo
institutional theory will be used to give a view on the change in the two institutions
resulting from the diffusion of ICTs and how people within the institutions have
responded to that change. Because the study touches on policy issues, a discussion of
policy will be included in the theoretical framework to help contextualise the policy
issues in the study. Activity theory will be used as a framework for putting everything
together as it supplies a wealth of concepts that are useful in explaining and
interpreting the findings of the study.

According to Kogan, (2002) institutions respond to external changes and their

responses become structured in terms of organisational and power structures. Trowler
and Knight (2002) suggest that institutional cultures are protean and dynamic, not
singular and static. Any university, therefore, possesses a unique and dynamic
multiple cultural configuration which renders depiction difficult and simple depictions
wildly erroneous. In light of this, values, attitudes, assumptions and taken-for-granted
recurrent practices may be as different from department to department, building to
building in one higher education institution as they are between one university and the
next. The apparent significance of this diversity might appear slight to those gazing at
higher education through the wrong end of an analytical telescope instead of through
a microscope (Trowler and Knight 2002:146). What this study has attempted to do is
to take a snapshot view of the status of ICT and the role of policy in Higher Education
in Zimbabwe through two very different institutions. It is hoped that although the
study will indeed be gazing through the telescope instead of a microscope, it will

17
nonetheless contribute towards the discussion on the diffusion of ICTs by
emphasising the role of policy.

11 Contextual Framework
In trying to understand policy and how it relates to changes in the domain of HE
institutions, concern is with the tension and interplay between the strategic and the
institutional aspect, that is, between conscious attempts at creating change in order to
achieve instrumental goals, and the habitual rule-bound processes where change takes
place gradually and less noticeably (Bleiklie et al, 2000). With the status of ICT in
Higher education in Zimbabwe, the diffusion of ICTs can be seen as a conscious,
clearly distinguishable attempt at achieving specific, goals, that is increasing access,
improving quality and making institutions more competitive. On the other hand, the
diffusion of ICTs can also be seen as an embedded process that forms part of more
comprehensive social and political processes of change (business as usual). Before
looking at the theories that have been chosen for this study, it is important to touch on
a subject or phenomenon, which forms the basis of the context in which ICTs and
their adoption in Higher Education are found; globalization.

11.1 Globalisation
All over the world higher education is currently adjusting to global socio-economic
changes, with information technology playing a central role. Computers, the Internet
and other forms of communication are now used in universities to enhance the process
of learning. Hernes (2001) has described globalisation as the increasing flow across
boarders and boundaries (whether national, economic, cultural, technological or
institutional) of people, goods, services, ideas, information, images and values. It is a
social process in which the constraints of geography on social and cultural
arrangements recede and in which people are becoming increasingly aware that they
are receding (Waters, 1995 in Marshall, 1998). The Human Development Report
200015 says that globalisation is not a new phenomenon, “but the present era has
distinctive features, shrinking space and time and disappearing boarders (which) are
linking people’s lives more deeply, more intensely, more immediately than ever
before”. Held and his colleagues (in Cloete et al 2002:29) see globalisation as “a
phenomenon, whose lack of precise definition creates the danger of becoming a cliché

15
http://www.undp.org/hdr2000/english/book/ch4.pdf

18
of our times; the big idea which encompasses everything but delivers little substantial
insight into the contemporary human condition”.

Nonetheless global forces play a much-increased role in all our economies and
societies today and to ignore globalisation would be a refusal to face reality. As
Hernes (2001) so rightly puts it, “it is already here as a defining force and
consequence of the rapid and inexorable movement of technologies, markets, polities
and destinies” (Hernes, 2001: 74). Universities all over the globe are joining the
export trade, selling courses and recruiting internationally, and according to Perraton
(2000) as all educational systems respond to labour market demands, themselves a
function of global activity, so education is shaped by globalisation. In a sense, this
study will contribute to the globalisation literature in as far as it will examine the
extent to which Higher Education Institutions in Zimbabwe have responded to global
forces. This will be measured by the extent to which they have integrated ICTs into
their systems. With globalisation come elements that are crucial for understanding the
subject of this study, ICTs, and these will subsequently be looked at.

11.1.1 The Technological Revolution

Technological capacity, technological infrastructure, access to knowledge, and highly
skilled human resources become critical sources of competitiveness in the new
international division of labour (Castells 2000:109).

One element of globalization that is fundamental to this study is the technology

revolution. Colvin (2001:9) says that we are experiencing a revolution that is like no
other before it, a “radical revolution” characterized by “seemingly unstoppable
technological change that is relentlessly consuming anything or anyone that stands in
its path.” The new “technological revolution” is far broader, encompassing everything
from transportation and medicine to materials and even farming. According to Katz et
al (1999), the emergence of the Information Age is presenting educators with
unprecedented challenges and opportunities. The promise of the Information Age is
the delivery of information “anytime and anywhere”, and its premise is the highly
educated knowledge worker. Unlike any other revolution, the core of the
transformation being experienced in the current revolution refers to technologies of
information processing and communication (Castells 2000:30). Put in other words by
Colvin (2001), the revolution is fundamentally based on information, itself the

19
expression of human knowledge, and technological processes have now enabled us to
process, store, retrieve and communicate information in whatever form; audio,
written, or visual, unconstrained by time, distance or volume.

For Castells (2000), what characterizes the current technological revolution is not the
centrality of knowledge and information, but the application of such knowledge and
information to knowledge generation and information processing. For the first time in
history, “the human mind is a direct productive force, not just a decisive element of
the production system” (Castells 2000:31). Thus computers, communication systems
and genetic decoding and programming are all amplifiers and extensions of the human
mind.

The technology Revolution has brought with it access to an ever widening range of
unfiltered information, giving people a wide window on the world and its unfolding
events. According to Colvin (2001), this must be welcome because it promotes
democratic forms of governments and helps undermine closed, authoritarian
governments. However, he hastens to add that while greater access to unfiltered
information and news can promote democracy; such access can also increase pressure
on democratic governments to use censorship.

11.1.2 The Knowledge Economy

With globalization, the knowledge economy has come to the fore, and “no more can
we ponder upon the possible impact of the information age” (Poppy and Tjeldvoll
2001:7). A knowledge driven economy is one in which the generation and
exploitation of knowledge play the predominant part in wealth creation (Houghton &
Sheehan, 2000; Skyrme, 1999). The Knowledge Economy increasingly relies on the
diffusion and use of knowledge as well as its creation; hence the success of national
economies and enterprises will become more reliant upon their effectiveness in
gathering, absorbing and utilizing knowledge as well as in its creation. In the past,
economists have only recognized labor and capital as the only factors of production.
However, today technology, and the knowledge on which it is based, is seen as an
intrinsic part of the economic system, and thus the third factor of production in
leading economies.

20
According to new growth economists, a country’s capacity to take advantage of the
knowledge economy depends on how quickly it can become a “learning economy”.
Learning means not only using new technologies to access global knowledge, but it
also means using them to communicate with other people about innovation. Thus the
knowledge economy places knowledge firmly at the heart of the economic agenda,
and with it, Higher Education Institutions that produce this knowledge at the highest
level.

Rapid shifts in the economy, reflecting changes in the global economy, are leading to
the disappearance of old jobs and the emergence of new ones in which lifelong
learning is becoming a necessity, and thus creating a society in which continuous
learning at any time is the norm (Twiggs, 1994). It is critical therefore, to explore the
ways in which learning has changed in the knowledge economy and as a result of the
technology revolution.

11.2 The Changing Definition of Learning

Clearly, our current system of teaching and learning is changing as institutions respond to
the changing definition of learning (with) information technologies playing a central role
in those changes… Twigg (1994:73).

In Twigg (1994)’s view, our definition of learning is changing in a number of ways;

what students need to learn, who is learning, when students learn, and finally how
students learn. Driven by the information explosion, or the knowledge explosion,
expectations about what a student should learn at the university are changing. No
longer is the view that a college education is a mastery of a body of knowledge or
complete preparation for a lifetime career, valid. Instead, there is recognition that
graduates need to have acquired skills such as critical thinking, quantitative reasoning,
and effective communication, along with such abilities as finding needed information
and the ability to work well with others (Twigg, 1994). Wallin (2001) has called this a
paradigm shift to lifelong learning. In his words, the educational system in general,
and the academic educational system in particular is in need of a profound “learning
process re-engineering” to the new paradigm of lifelong learning which considers
learning in a “learner-centric” context rather than in a teacher centric classroom

21
context, and which is aware that the learner has access to a very “rich global e-
learning environment” at anytime from anywhere (Wallin, 2001:78).

Tapscott (1998) argues that we are now in a digital era of learning. According to him,
a transformation in learning is taking place from what he labels "broadcast" learning
to "interactive" learning. No longer are today's generation of learners satisfied in
being the passive recipients of the traditional teaching process, rather, they want to
discover it for themselves by becoming interactive with the learning. New media tools
offer great promise for a new model of learning; one based on discovery and
participation (Tapscott, 1998:127).

According to Twigg (1994), traditional undergraduates (those between 18 and 22

years old, attending full time and living in college housing) constitute less than one
fourth of all students in higher education with adult students who are primarily part-
time and non-residential making up the new majority. While the statistics may differ
considerably for higher education in the south, the basic argument of who is learning
in higher education still holds true. More and more adults are learning today, and their
definition of quality in higher education is more likely to be satisfaction of customer
needs (themselves being the customer), rather than the traditional measures of quality
like rich resources as represented by the size of the libraries, staff-to-student ratios
and so on (Twigg, 1994). Facilitated by the power of information technology,
classroom learning now extends beyond a single campus to distant sites across the
town, across the state and across the country, and institutions of higher learning
should think of new pedagogies that reach out to students wherever they are, and thus
also changing how students learn.

It would be foolish to ignore ICTs in Higher education because they can enhance
educational values but also because they are an integral part of life, learning and work
experience and therefore ignoring them would be ignoring an essential developmental
tool for the students. ICTs can, through new modes of illumination and careful
exploration, transcend the limitations of learning as we know it and provide
conversational space beyond the classroom. This does not mean however, that
traditional forms of learning may be less valuable than ICT based techniques, which
can be entire substitutes for the traditional forms or that ICT based techniques can be

22
used independently rather than as part of a whole experience of learning. It is equally
necessary not to over hype the value of technological learning in comparison with
traditional tools. ICTs can be educationally liberating, provided they are used in an
effective way but they are still very costly in Africa.

11.3 Higher Education Policy

Policy is made in ways other than in formal settings of government or vice chancellors’
offices and … implementation processes (are) essentially creative and therefore also part
of the policy-making process (Trowler 2002:1)

The major assumption of this study is that policy affects the status of ICT in Higher
Education. It is the contention of this study that successful diffusion of ICTs requires
a strong policy base. This section therefore looks into the wider debate on policy and
tries to show how policy can be crucial to the adoption of an innovation such as ICT
in HE. As Bleiklie, Høstaker and Vabø (2000) have put it, change within higher
education institutions is a complicated affair, and it is often regarded as an outcome of
public policy. The general view is that policies are initiated in a top-down process by
national policy making bodies, are subsequently translated into laws and resources,
are implemented within educational institutions and finally affect the behaviour of
individual academics and the way in which they conduct their research, teaching and
administrative tasks (Bleiklie et al, 2000). Cloete and Maassen (2002) support this
claim where they say that traditionally, public policy as a driver of change has been
viewed as a rational linear process consisting of causally linked phases: policy
formation, policy implementation, policy evaluation, feedback and policy adaptation.
The situation can also be reversed, resulting in a bottom-up process.

However, reality is not as clean cut as either process purports; the policy process is far
more complicated and irrational (Cloete and Maassen, 2002). Bleiklie et al (2000)
states that in practice, decisions in the different contexts of higher education are
highly interwoven in a number of ways that make it impossible to have separate
levels. As a consequence, in mature democracies, the focus of public policy has
moved to studying the interactive dimension of policy process, hence focus is on the
main social actors involved, their interaction with relevant social institutions and the
effect on outcomes of the policy process (Cloete and Maassen, 2002). With this in

23
mind, the aim here is to contextualise policy issues in order to gain an insight into the
policy formulation process in Zimbabwe, and to understand how institutions are going
about ICT initiatives in a country without a national ICT policy. In order to
understand how policy comes into the ICT discussion, there is need to first define it.

11.3.1 Definition of Policy

Defining policy is no simple task, as it involves a lot of issues, and depends on the
standpoint of whoever is defining it. Trowler (2002) does not see policy and policy-
making as distinct from or above processes of implementation and change, located only
in formal settings of policy design or strategy formulation. According to him, policy is
made as it is received in different locales (sometimes with loss or fuzziness in parts of
the message), interpreted and implemented, and thus, “policy is understood in a very
broad way as any action (or inaction) related to the selection of goals, the definition of
values or the allocation of resources” (Trowler 2002:3). Thus it is far from simply the
mechanical application of means by policy architects in order to realise given ends, but
policy texts are laden with multiple agendas, attitudes, values and sets of meaning.

Policies are a result of negotiation, compromise and conflict, and are quite messy and
paradoxical. Ball (1990) supports this claim, where he says that abstract accounts on
policy tend towards tidy generalities and often fail to capture the messy realities of
influence, pressure, dogma, expediency, conflict, compromise, Intransigence,
resistance, error, opposition and pragmatism in the policy process. It seems then that
Ball’s definition (cited in Trowler 2002) of policy tries to reflect this nature of policy.
He says
Policy is both text and action, words and deeds, it is what is enacted as well as what is
intended. Policies are always incomplete in as far as they relate or map on the wild
profusion of local practice. (Ball 1994 in Trowler 2002:5)
Policies need to make statements of purpose, position or direction that can guide the
behaviour of those they cover (Domatob, 1998). For the purposes of this study, ICT
policy in the two institutions is going to be restricted to strategic plans, mission
statements, and visions as it is these that give direction to the process of ICT
integration. It is going to be argued that the adoption of ICTs requires comprehensive
policies as they involve issue of resources that cannot be left to chance.

24
Policies project images of an ideal society and as such education policies project
definitions of what counts as education. Logically then, policies cannot be divorced
from interests, from conflict, from domination or from justice. Education policy is not
simply a direct response to dominant interests and might best be understood not as
reflecting the interests of one social class, but as responding to a complex and
heterogeneous configuration of elements, including ideologies that are residual or
emergent, as well as currently dominant (Ball, 1994). Kogan (2002) argues that in a
democratic society, policy changes reflect some kind of accommodation between
government and the interests of various stakeholders (including donors). What this
means is that a number of groups are involved in the generation of policy and it is
important to have this in mind as one goes into a study such as the one I am
undertaking, which seeks to see the extent to which policy affects the status of ICTs in
higher education institutions.

11.3.2 Actors in the Policy Arena

Pursuing the idea that policy changes reflect interests of various stakeholders (Kogan,
2000), it seems logical to look at who the actors are in the policy arena. Bleiklie
(2002) asserts that policy design is not the outcome of any master plan, but reflects
the decisions of many different people and organisational units, often working in
different contexts and places. The HE system can be regarded as a policy arena,
wherein the core activities; knowledge transmission, knowledge production and
administration are subject to attempts by different categories of actors to affect and
control the relevant processes and events (Bleiklie, et al, 1995).

For Theisens (2004), the policy process takes place in networks of exchange
relationships between participants with interest in a particular policy issue. In such
networks, states, buffer organisations and actors in the policy sector interactively
create, decide upon and implement policy, and stages in the policy process are blurred
and different actors share responsibility. The actors in the policy process are mutually
dependent because they need each other’s resources. In the case of HE policy making
for instance, HE institutions are dependent on state resources in terms of funding and
regulation, while the state also depends on HE institutions for information and their
capacity to implement policies (ibid). It should also be noted that in order for a policy

25
to implemented, actors like lecturers, students as well as administrative staff need to
participate in the policy making process, and their views and interests reflected.

11.3.3 External Actors

It is important to note that unlike in the developed countries, external actors

sometimes directly influence policy issues in developing countries. Brock-Utne
(2000) has a title in her book, “Establishing Education policies for Sub-Saharan
Africa” which points to the fact that there are outside influences establishing
education policies for Africa. She says that most African countries find themselves in
a situation where their education policies are in many cases determined by bilateral or
multilateral donors or moneylenders. In particular, the World Bank has come to play a
decisive influence in deciding on the educational policy and practices to be followed
by African countries (Jones, 1992 cited in Brock-Utne, 2000). Those who lend or give
money have the power to define concepts and to enforce their educational policies by
rewarding those countries showing willingness to follow the “recommendations” and
punishing or at least not funding the others. Brock Utne (2000: 71) seems to come to
the conclusion that the World Bank, IMF, bilateral and multilateral donors are
responsible for the formulation of educational policies in Africa as many of the
policies display “a determined World Bank hand behind (them)” This is also true for
ICT policies in Africa as ICTs themselves are largely donor funded.

Nonetheless, Trowler (2002:13) says, “discounting outside influence and turbulence,

(institutions) themselves often behave like a tribe of hyper-active children” as there
are a lot of power dynamics in policy issues between various departments.

11.3.4 Policy versus Implementation

It has long been recognized by academic theorists that there is a loosely coupled
relationship between policy initiatives at the policy making level and the outcomes on
the ground (Trowler, 2002), and higher education institutions are no exception. Cohen
and March (1974) cited in Trowler (2002) have likened universities to “organised
anarchies” where anything requiring coordinated effort of the organisation to start is
unlikely to be started, and anything requiring coordinated effort to be stopped is
unlikely to be stopped. What they mean by this seems to be that at the institutional

26
level, policymaking and policy implementation are not always a result of rational
decisions and technical solutions to problems.

The question how and to what extent academic institutions and practices are affected
by major policy changes depends on the extent to which changes are welcomed by,
relevant to, and moulded and absorbed by academic institutions and practices
(Trowler, 2002:17). Trowler (2002) states that much of the rhetoric about Higher
Education policy is based on the notion that HE systems are shaped by political
decisions and preferences. However, students’ action for instance can exert equally
important influence. Kogan (2002) says that in considering the forces at work in
creating and implementing higher education policy, the basic distinction to observe is
between contextual factors that affect policy outcomes and the involvement of certain
groups of actors. There are factors that can still affect higher education even if they
are hardly articulated by policy in any systematic or rational way (ibid). There are
also, partly acting as contextual factors and partly embodied in actors, ideologies such
as those informing the emphasis of academic freedom and those advocating the claims
of the market and the economy (Kogan, 2002) that affect policy making.

Theisens (2004) says that there is a link between policy change and actual change, but
the nature of this change is very complex. He says that actual change can occur with
or without policy change, and policy change can, but does not necessarily lead to
actual change. This is particularly interesting for this study as its main goal is to show
the importance of policy in the adoption of ICTs. Theisens (2004) talks about
developments in policy literature, and particularly interesting for this study is the
realisation that implementation is not a straightforward process. He says that this has
spurned a widening of the concept of policy to include changes at many different
levels and not only the content of policy documents.

When looking at policy issues, it is important to realise that the characteristics of

organisations in policy networks have an impact on the policy process. One of the
most important characteristics is the pervasive tradition of autonomy (Theisens, 2004)
within higher education institutions. This means that interventions are likely to be
resisted, as these are perceived as infringing on autonomy and therefore illegitimate.
The pervasive and ingrained value of autonomy means that universities are inclined to

27
resist government interference, and they moreover have the ability to do so through a
process known as de-coupling16. This is made possible in universities particularly
because governments have only a vague notion of what goes on inside these
institutions, thus enabling them to get away with symbolic compliance.

In Zimbabwe, however, there is no overall country policy on ICT to guide and

regulate their diffusion. This brings an interesting dimension to this study as it tries to
ascertain whether the overt (silent) national policy on ICT has the same effect as a
voiced policy on institutional reaction to change. The aims of policy and policy design
have little predictable impact on local contexts; “policy is shaped through, and its
outcomes are contingent on, the situated character of individual, social and
organisational behaviour” (Johnson, 2002:80). As noted before, institutions react
differently to change depending on various factors. In spite of the fact that there is no
overall ICT Policy in Zimbabwe, there is undoubted evidence that institutions of
Higher Learning in Zimbabwe are being driven to adopt ICTs in their day-to-day
operations and the policy implications of this endeavour are the concern of this study.
The two theories of organisational change, resource dependency and neo institutional
theory have been adopted to help in explaining how the two institutions in the study
have responded to the pressure for adopting ICTs.

12 Theoretical Framework
To understand the diffusion of technologies that promise to redraw the lines of
communication, interdependence and control within HE institutions in Zimbabwe, we
must understand the institutions in all their complexity. As stated previously, two
theories will help us in this endeavor: resource dependency and neo-institutional
theories, and these will be discussed at this point.

12.1 Resource Dependency Theory

I think probably everything goes back to resources in the end… academics and
institutions have to do more and more for the same amount of money and the money now
comes with… far more strings to it than previously (Pro Vice Chancellor, pre-1992
university, in Johnson 2002:81)

16
De-coupling can be defined as symbolically complying with government policies, while in fact maintaining the original
patterns of behaviour inside an organisation. (Oliver, 1991 cited in Theisens, 2004:57).

28
A resource dependency perspective starts from the view that “to understand
organizations one must understand how organizations relate to other social actors in
their environment” (Gornitzka, 1999). Resource dependency theory argues that
because organizations need resources for survival, they are not completely self-
directed and independent (Johnson, 2002). Rather, they are other-directed, constantly
struggling for autonomy and discretion, faced with constraints and external control
(Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978 in Gornitzka, 1999). However, even though institutions
are externally constrained in their actions, they nonetheless engage in political
decision-making processes and seek to manage and strategically adapt their
environments (Pfeffer: 1982).

There exists an interdependent relationship between organizations and the external

environment where interdependence is constituted by a pattern of dependencies to
different external fund holders (Johnson, 2002). The pattern of dependencies is
subject to change, either externally or internally induced. Organizations will attempt
to manage and change dependencies in order to secure sizable, reliable or non-tied
funds, or to secure funds for which there is less competition from other organizations.
Thus organizations are faced with the task of managing for stability, which means
achieving a balance within and between conflicting imperatives and constraints
(Johnson, 2002). Generally, institutions respond most readily to the demands of
organizations that control critical resources. In the case of Zimbabwe, this gives the
state leverage to influence state-run institutions particularly in the diffusion of ICTs.
The state should make use of institutional resource dependencies to foster the
adoption of ICTs, and a national ICT policy is the logical starting point.

Another dynamic relationship concerns the intra-organizational factors where the

contest for control within the organization intervenes to affect the enactment of
organizational environments. This means that organizational change cannot be
understood simply by investigating objective resource dependencies and
interdependencies. It is also necessary to understand the way organizations perceive
their environments, how they act to control and avoid dependencies, the role of
leadership and the way in which the distribution of internal power affects, and is
affected by, external dependencies and organizational independence. Gornitzka
(1999) draws an emphasis on how organizations act strategically and make active

29
choices to manage their dependency on those parts of their task environment that
control vital resources. It logically follows then, that preferred computing
arrangements will tend to flow towards those activities that support the agendas of the
participants with the greatest control over negotiating resources. This aspect of
resource dependency will be used to explain the discrepancies in infrastructure within
the two institutions

According to Cloete and Maassen (2002), resource dependency theory assumes that
organizations are flexible, that they adapt if a change in the environment threatens
critical resource relationships, and that they will adapt their prevailing repertoire of
exchange relationships in order to ensure a continuous flow of resources. This can be
seen clearly in the case of Zimbabwe where in the face of shrinking governmental
support to HE, institutions have created stronger dependencies on their relationships
with donor agencies and other international organizations. Organizational responses
are partially based on influence and countervailing power: the greater the external
power of stakeholder or government, the greater the effect of the environment on
institutions and greater organizational power on the other hand ensures greater
institutional choice (Cloete and Maassen, 2002). Institutions follow strategies to
ensure survival of their organizations and in particular to increase their autonomy
relative to powerful organizations in the environment (Kling et al, 1992), for instance
their competitors. It is likely therefore, that institutions will adopt ICTs to help them
manage key external dependencies.

Resource dependency theory is also especially important when looking at institutions

in the Zimbabwean context. As a developing country, Zimbabwe is heavily dependent
on external aid in a lot of aspects and when it comes to ICTs, the dependency is
magnified by the resource intensive nature that characterizes their diffusion. A
combination of factors in the country ensures high dependency on external funding
for ICT initiatives. These include an ailing economy, Structural Adjustment Programs
(SAPs) and their insistence on cuts on public expenditure resulting in less money for
education in general, and higher education in particular, as well as World Bank
policies in education, which emphasized on basic education at the expense of HE.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this study in relation to resource dependency

30
theory is the desire to see what effect a resource intensive endeavor like diffusion of
ICTS has on resource relationships.

Notwithstanding its important insights, resource dependency theory’s view does not
look beyond the issues of resources and resource relationships in its explanation of
change in an institution. In particular, it does not examine the social context within
which resource relationship decisions are embedded (e.g. institutional traditions and
regulatory pressures) and how this context might affect change. In an effort to
compliment explanations from resource dependency theory in the diffusion of ICTs in
Zimbabwean HE institutions, insights from the new institutionalism in organizational
theory (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983, Scott, 1987) are also explored. Institutional
theory contributes the role of social influence and pressures for social conformity in
organizational change.

12.2 Neo-Institutional Theory

Institutions are organized social arrangements that persist and are taken for granted by
participants (Kling et al, 1992). They operate within a social framework of norms,
values and taken-for-granted assumptions about what constitutes appropriate or
acceptable behavior. Organizational behavior is conditioned by historical norms and
traditions (ideas of what are acceptable or required structures, social relations,
processes of decision-making, organizational purposes or criteria of performance)
(Johnson, 2002). The adoption of ICTs in institutions requires substantial changes in
basic organizational practices and thus meets with resistance.

Neo-Institutional approaches assume that behavior is rule driven rather than

preference driven (Bleiklie, Morton and Hanney, 1995). The essential factors that bear
on whether and how an organization may change are the norms associated with the
institutional field to which the organization belongs. These norms are forces that both
constrain and inform change. Thus while changes on the external environment suggest
the possibility of, or necessity for change, internal responses are conditioned by
normative beliefs that counter and resist innovation. From a rational perspective,
developments in information and communications technology suggest the tutor less
classroom is both a viable and profitable means to deliver teaching. However,
historical norms of face-to-face contact between lecturer and student run counter to

31
this idea (Johnson, 2002:83). These are some of the dynamics that will be explored by
neo-institutional theory in this study.

Organizations do not respond easily to change or reforms that run against their own
organizational culture. Organizational routines that have facilitated efficient activities
and stable environments in the past may prevent the changes required for successful
use of ICTs in HE. This inflexibility on the part of institutions is not necessarily a
result of resistant end-users like lecturers and administration staff, or insensitive ICT
implementers and system designers. Organizations can be slow to change, even when
change is desirable or necessary due to shifting dependencies with other participants
and conditions in the environment (Kling et al, 1992).

Change in the organization happens within the context of norms and beliefs that are
taken for granted. Organizations make normatively rational choices that may be
shaped by the environment and resource availability, but very much within the
expectation of organizational stability. Institutional theorists are especially interested
in how organizational structures and processes become institutionalized over time.
Change does not occur if it is not institutionalized within the organizational
framework Cloete and Maassen (2002). Kling et al (1992:14) have defined
institutionalization as “the construction and internalization of values and beliefs” that
accompany for instance the routine use of technologies. A practice or innovation such
as ICTs can be said to be institutionalized when its routine use is accompanied by a
general sentiment among institutional actors that it is taken for granted in institutional
life.

Organizational adaptability to environmental change thus needs to be incorporated

into standard organizational procedures, and this is normally done by formalizing
practices in organizational plans, visions and mission statements and other formal
documents that form organizational policy. It is important to note, however, that the
institutionalization process is seldom smooth or without conflict. Usually there are
conflicting views for example on the appropriateness or importance of technology in
an institution.

32
12.3 An Integrated theoretical Perspective
While both resource dependency and institutional theories are useful to an
interrogation of change in organization and higher education generally, neither is in
itself sufficient (Cloete and Maassen, 2002). It is at the intersection of these two
theories that a more adequate explanation of change in Universities and Higher
Education can be found, thus lending support to the view that a more sophisticated
organizational analysis might be found in a combined rather than contrasting
theoretical perspective (Johnson, 2002). According to Cloete and Maassen (2002),
neo-institutional theory shares the notion of resource dependency about organizational
adaptability, but its focus is on how organizations adapt to the norms and beliefs of
their environment, and not only to resources. The two theories thus complement each
other and can provide a more holistic explanation of institutional reaction to the
diffusion of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe. It is at the intersection of resource dependency
theory and neo institutional theory, that an Activity theory framework is inserted to
provide a model that will be used to discuss the policy issues that are central to the
status of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe. Activity theory offers a wealth of concepts that will
be used discuss the issue at hand.

12.4 Activity Theory

Activity theory is going to be used as a tool for discussing the impact of policy on the
status of ICT at the two institutions, and it is going to integrate the two theories
central to the study. It is a powerful and clarifying descriptive tool rather than a
strongly predictive theory (Kaptelinin and Nardi, 1997). It is a set of basic principles
that constitute a general conceptual system. It offers a set of perspectives on human
activity and a set of concepts for describing that activity, which is what this study
needs as it struggles to explain the importance of policy in the diffusion of ICT in HE
in Zimbabwe. Activity theory incorporates strong notions of intentionality, history,
mediation, collaboration and development in the understanding of a phenomenon
(Kaptelinin and Nardi, 1997), in this case, the diffusion of ICTs in HE in Zimbabwe.
Understanding the interpenetration of the individual, other people and artifacts in
everyday activity is the challenge activity theory has set for itself, and in this study, it
will help us understand institutions, innovation, people and policy in interactions
resulting in the status of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe.

33
12.4.1 The Concept of Activity

An activity is a collective, systemic formation that has a complex mediational

structure. An activity system produces actions and is realized by means of actions but
activity is not reducible to actions (Kaptelinin and Nardi, 1997). Actions are relatively
short-lived and have a temporally clear-cut beginning and end. According to Leont’ev
(1981, cited in Kaptelinin and Nardi, 1997), an activity is developed in response to
some human need. In the case of this study, the activity, which is the diffusion of
ICTs at two institutions, was born out of a combination of factors discussed earlier,
namely pressures within and outside the institutions. Activity systems evolve over
lengthy periods of socio-historical time, often taking the form of institutions and
organizations17. Activity theory shares its element of historicity with neo institutional
theory as they both say that there is need to understand the history of a phenomenon
or institution before one can understand what is happening at the present. Activity
theory proposes that activity cannot be understood without understanding the role of
artifacts in everyday existence; especially the way artifacts are integrated into social
practice.18 These artifacts can represent the policies that are put in place for the
achievement of goals such as the adoption of ICTs.

The basic principles of Activity Theory include the hierarchical structure of activity,
object-orientedness, internalization/externalization, tool mediation, and development.
Figure 1 below shows the structure of human activity according to Engeström (1987).

17
http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/activity/pages/chatanddwr/activitysystem/
18
Bonnie A. Nardi http://www.acm.org/interactions/vol2no4/depts/book.htm

34
 INSTRUMENTS
Figure 1: The Structure of human activity (Engeström, 1987 in Krogstie, 2000:24)

12.4.2 The Hierarchical Structure of Activity19

In Activity Theory the unit of analysis is an activity directed at an object, which

motivates activity, giving it a specific direction. Thus
SUBJECT
activities areOUTCOME
OBJECT
composed of goal-
directed actions that must be undertaken to fulfill the object. Different actions may be
undertaken to meet the same goal. Actions are implemented through automatic
operations. Operations do not have their own goals; rather they provide an adjustment
of actions to current
RULES situations. Activity
COMMUNITYTheory holds that the constituents
DIVISION OF of activity
LABOUR
are not fixed, but can dynamically change as conditions change. The theory is a
philosophical framework for studying different forms of human praxis as
developmental processes, with both the individual and social world interlinked
(Bardram20). The fundamental unit of analysis, the human activity, has three basic
characteristics; it is directed towards a material or ideal object, which distinguishes
one activity from another; artifacts like tools, language, etc mediate it and the fact that
it is social, within a culture.

Object-orientedness: The principle of "object-orientedness states that human beings

live in a reality that is objective in a broad sense: the things that constitute this reality
have not only the properties that are considered objective according to natural
sciences but socially/culturally defined properties as well. Actions forming part of
19
Kaptelinin and Nardi http//www.acm.org/sigs/sigchi/chi97/proceedings/tutorial/bn.htm
20
Plans as situated action: An Activity Theory Approach to Workflow Systems at
http://www.daimi.au.dk/~bardram/docs/PlansAsSituatedAction.pdf accessed on 07/02/2005

35
activity have a collectively shared meaning being related to a commonly understood
motive or object of the activity (Krogstie, 2000). In this study, the object is the
diffusion of ICTs in the two institutions as measured by infrastructure and use of ICTs
within institutions. The policies in place as expressed in strategic plans, visions and
mission statements define the activity and guide the institutions in the activity.

Internalization/externalization: Activity Theory differentiates between internal and

external activities. It emphasizes that internal activities cannot be understood if they
are analyzed separately from external activities, because they transform into each
other. Internalization is the transformation of external activities into internal ones.
This is reminiscent of neo institutional theory, which suggests that if an external
innovation like the diffusion of ICT is to be accepted into an institution, it has to be
made part of the organizational culture, in other words, internalized. Externalization
transforms internal activities into external ones. Externalization occurs when the
internalized activities are expressed outwardly in a form that gives meaning to others.

Mediation: Activity Theory emphasizes that tools in a broad sense mediate human
activity. Tools are created and transformed during the development of the activity
itself and carry with them a particular culture - historical remains from their
development. Therefore, the use of tools is an accumulation and transmission of social
knowledge. Tool use influences the nature of external behavior and also the mental
functioning of individuals. In this study, tools that mediate in the diffusion of ICTs in
HE can be seen as the policies put in place for their adoption. Incentives for the use of
ICTs can also be seen as tools for the diffusion in that they influence actual use.

Development: In Activity Theory development is not only an object of study; it is also

a general research methodology. The basic research method in Activity Theory is not
traditional laboratory experiments but the formative experiment which combines
active participation with monitoring of the developmental changes of the study
participants. Ethnographic methods that track the history and development of a
practice have also become important in recent work. For this study development in
this sense is not very important unless if it is looked at as the progression of ICT
diffusion over time which is outside the context of this study.

36
 These basic principles of Activity Theory should be considered as an integrated
system, because they are associated with various aspects of the whole activity. A
systematic application of any of these principles makes it eventually necessary to
engage all the other ones. Given that Higher Education institutions are complex
institutions characterised by multiple cultural configuration and that change initiatives
are received and understood in different ways, conceptualizations of change need to
be modified accordingly (Trowler and Knight 2002), and it is hoped that the use of
activity theory as a framework that integrates the two theories will help achieve this.

12.4.3 Adopting Activity Theory as a Framework

As stated previously, Activity theory in this study is used as a framework for bringing
together the two theories central to this study in the discussion of the integration of
ICTs in HE institutions in Zimbabwe and the role of policy on the status of these
ICTs. Figure 2 below shows how activity theory can be used to map out issues in this
study. The activity object, the diffusion of ICTs is a motive and a driving force in the
activity. It represents an answer to the question, why, which is related to the rationale
for the activity’s existence (Krogstie, 2000). Concepts such as culture, norms and
values are part of the rules in the activity system. Community would be the people
involved in both policymaking and integration of ICTs, e.g., students and lecturers,
and division of labor specifies the roles each one has to play in the activity.

ICT POLICIES

Transformation

INSTITUTIONS ICT ICT USE

INTEGRATION

37
ALLOCATION
INSTITUTIONAL INSTITUTIONAL OF ROLES
CULTURE COMMUNITY
12.5 A Model for ICTs

Figure 3 Framework for successful integration of ICTs Petrides, 2000: 5

Figure 3 shows a framework (Petrides (2000) for considering the conditions necessary
for successful strategies to be designed and implemented when integrating
information and communication technology in higher education. At the base of the
model are the planning and management processes (policy issues) that must be in
place for the system to effectively manage and adapt to the environment. These
processes inevitably have an impact on the people and culture within the institution.
At the top is teaching and learning – representing the core mission of higher
education, and thus the essential use of ICT. Outside the diagram is the external
environment, which is continually changing. The lightening bolts in the external
environment are the external drivers or conditions, which serve to influence the
system. Environmental factors include changing demographics of student population,
technological innovations and competition from commercial education ventures. The
shaded arrow that circulates from the external environment, passing through planning
and management processes, impact on people and culture and teaching and learning,
depicts the flow of technology into the system. The curved nature of the arrow
illustrates a process of interaction between each of the individual layers, driving
towards a transformative interaction across all three layers, with information
technology. The framework suggests that the transformation of the education process

38
itself is a result of these interactive forces. It is the objective of this thesis to show
how this can be adapted in the Zimbabwean context.

12.6 Conclusion
Resource Dependency theory depicts organisational behaviour as adaptive and
political, constrained by the interdependencies on resources among organisations and
the actors within them. Neo-institutional theory focuses on the ways that key
organisational practices become inflexible due to participants beliefs about the status
quo. However they are both fundamentally concerned with providing more detailed
pictures of existing organisational arrangements, established patterns of relations and
organisational change. Activity theory helps provide a framework as well as concepts
that help understand the issue being studied. Thus the theoretical thrust of this study
helps in understanding technology and organisational change in the context of
globalisation and the knowledge economy as well as emphasising the role policy in
the adoption of ICTs.

39
3 Chapter 3 Methodology

13 Introduction
This study is, by its nature, largely an exploratory situated and qualitative inquiry, and
therefore qualitative methods were used. My inquiry started from the analysis of
actual policy and regulatory developments on ICT in Higher Education in Zimbabwe.
I particularly focused on the University of Zimbabwe, and The National University of
Science and Technology. These two were chosen for their unique characteristics, and
what they could reveal about HE and ICT in Zimbabwe. The University of Zimbabwe
was chosen because it is the oldest and biggest institution in the country, and probably
the most conservative when it comes to change. It is also supposedly the one with the
most resources and it would be interesting to see how far it has come in terms of
adopting ICTs in policy and practice. The National University of Science and
Technology was chosen because it is the first and only university set up by the
government for the purposes of science and technology, and thus it would be
interesting to see what it has to offer. In order to assess the status of ICT at these
institutions, a qualitative methodology combining interviews and document analysis,
was adopted.

14 Choice of Methodology
(Although) qualitative research can be emotionally taxing and extraordinarily time
consuming … it can yield rich information not obtainable through statistical sampling
techniques. (Hoepfl, 1997:61)

Debate still rages on concerning the best ways for conducting research as well as the
best methods to employ. According to Hoepfl (1997), qualitative and quantitative
researches both present fundamentally different inquiry paradigms and researcher
actions are based on the underlying assumption of each paradigm. Phenomenological
inquiry, or qualitative research uses a naturalistic approach that seeks to understand
phenomena in context-specific settings, while logical, positivism or quantitative
research uses experimental methods and quantitative measures to test hypothetical
generalizations (Hoepfl, 1997: 48) thus depicting the fundamental difference between
the two paradigms.

40
Qualitative methodology was chosen for this study based on the suggestion by
Johnson (1995 cited in Hoepfl 1997)) that technology educators should engage in
research that probes for deeper understanding rather than examining surface features.
Johnston notes that qualitative methodologies are powerful tools for enhancing our
understanding of teaching and learning. Hoepfl (1997) claims that statistical research
is not able to take full account of the many interaction effects that take place in social
settings, and therefore the time has come to “exorcise the null hypothesis” as it
ignores effects that may be important but statistically insignificant. Qualitative inquiry
accepts the complex and dynamic quality of the social world in which ICTs are
adopted and that is why it was chosen for this study. However, it is important to heed
Hoepfl’s warning that it is not necessary to pit the two paradigms against each other
in a competing stance, but to adopt a “paradigm of choices” that seek methodological
appropriateness as the primary criterion for judging methodological quality (Hoepfl,
1997:48). Considering the nature of information I intended to find out in this study,
qualitative methods seemed more suited for the task, thus more appropriate.

15 Qualitative Methodology
Strauss and Corbin (1990) claim that qualitative methods can be used to better
understand any phenomenon about which little is yet known, but at the same time,
they can be used to gain new perspectives on things about which much is already
known. Both situations happen to apply for this study. In as much as the phenomenon
of ICT in Higher Education is known in Zimbabwe, there is still a lot of fuzziness
around what is meant by ICT and the extent to which they can benefit Higher
Education. In this respect then, one can say little is known about ICT in Higher
Education in Zimbabwe, and thus qualitative methods can be employed to better
understand this phenomenon. Globally speaking, on the other hand, much is known
about ICT in Higher Education, as a lot has been written about it (e.g. World Bank,
200321). Even in Zimbabwe, there are experts on ICTs who know a lot them and who
will be questioned in this study. Still qualitative methods can be used in this case to
gain a new perspective on this issue from the experiences of two institutions in a
single country.

21
Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education.

41
The research questions have been framed as open-ended questions that will support
the discovery of new information, for instance, the main research question, “What is
the status of ICT in Higher Education in Zimbabwe?” The ability of the qualitative
data to more fully describe a phenomenon (Hoepfl, 1997) has been an important
consideration, not only from the researcher’s perspective, but from the readers’
perspective as well. Lincoln and Guba (1985:120) have suggested that, “If you want
people to understand better than they otherwise might, provide them information in
the form in which they usually experience it.” The fact also that qualitative research
has an interpretive character, aimed at discovering the meaning events have for the
individuals who experience them, and the interpretations of those meanings by the
researcher (Hoepfl, 1997), was very appealing to this researcher. It was an
opportunity that could not be passed.

16 The case-based approach

The process of studying the status of ICT in Higher Education in Zimbabwe, and the
place of policy in it, involved the selection of a multi-modal approach. The case study
was chosen as a mode of research within which the research could be framed, carried
out as well as reported (Morrison, 2001). The case based approach allows readers the
opportunity to learn from examples across several different disciplines in Higher
Education. Bell (1993: 8) describes the case-study method as follows:
The great strength of case-study method is that it allows the researchers to concentrate
on a specific instance or situation and to identify, or attempt to identify, the various
interactive processes at work. These processes may remain hidden in a large-scale
survey but may be crucial to the success or failure of systems or organizations.
Weiss (1998:261) sees a case study not as a particular design, but as a way of
organizing data so that the focus remains on the totality. She says,
It tries to consider the interrelationships among people, institutions, events and
beliefs…the watch word (being) holistic.
Case studies tend to be selective, focusing on one or two issues that are fundamental
to understanding the system being examined. Case studies are multi-perspectival
analyses. This means that the researcher considers not just the voice and perspective
of the actors, but also of the relevant groups of actors and the interaction between
them. Case studies can be seen to satisfy the three tenets of the qualitative method:
describing, understanding, and explaining (Yin 1994).

42
The case study approach enabled me to investigate the authenticity of what was being
said in terms of technological achievements and what was really on the ground. Yin
argues that a case study has a distinct advantage when “a “how” and “why” question
is being asked about a contemporary set of events over which the investigator has
little or no control” (1994:9). The need for a case study arises out of the desire to
understand complex social phenomena and it allows an investigation to retain the
holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events.

Yin (1994) presents three categories of case study research; explanatory, descriptive
and exploratory. A descriptive case study describes the real life context in which an
intervention took place, while an exploratory case study may be used where there is
no single expected outcome from the intervention. An explanatory case study
provides the causal links in real life interventions, which are too complex for the
survey or experimental strategies (Yin, 1994). Stake (1994) distinguishes between an
intrinsic, instrumental and collective case study. In an intrinsic case study, the
researcher looks for a deeper understanding through a particular case, which is a case
of special interest, rather than being representative of other cases, which is what this
study tries to do.

17 The Research Design

The design of a qualitative study depends on the purpose of the inquiry, what
information will be most useful and what information will have the most credibility
(Hoepfl, 1997). For me, the desire to know the status of ICT in higher education in
Zimbabwe, and the extent to which it is influenced by policy was the purpose of my
study. However, I realized that both ICT and Higher Education were very broad
fields, and thus I needed to narrow the two fields down. I decided that the best way to
do this was to find literature on the subject of ICT in Higher Education, and so began
a search through the library as well as on Internet. I managed to find a lot of literature
on the subject, (e.g. Gudmundsdottir (2002), Collis and Van der Wende (2002),
Nwuke (2001), Juma (2001) and a lot of others, but my biggest problem was that of
all the literature I found, there wasn’t on Zimbabwe. Hungwe (2002) has written
about emergent literacies in education in Zimbabwe and Morrison (2001) has written
on learning environments that have the potential to emancipate students from a one-

43
way knowledge provision from the teacher and the textbook. “Electracies” is an
account of learning about and with new media in subject specialist areas in a project
he called Hyperland. Other people have written on Higher education in general, while
others have written specifically on Distance education (e.g. Kurasha, (2003). No
literature on the aspects that I wanted to look at was found, hence the study drew on
literature from various angles and attempted to marry this literature into something
that would help understand the Zimbabwean context.

Having looked at the literature, I decided to look at the status of ICT both in teaching
and learning, as well as in Administration, and how policy affects this status at two
very different universities (The University of Zimbabwe and the National University
of Science and Technology). Looking at what I intended to find out (as specified in
my research question in Chapter 1); I chose appropriate methodologies (see section on
Data Gathering Techniques) and made preparations for fieldwork. I identified people
that I thought would be my key informants and managed to contact some of them
before leaving for my fieldwork. Starting with the key informants, the study would
unfold in a snowball effect, as these key informants referred me to other people.

18 Data Gathering Techniques

As Bryman (2004) puts it, qualitative research subsumes several diverse research
methods, and this study has employed a multi-method approach where more than one
method was used. The collection and qualitative analysis of documents and interviews
were the two methods employed and to a lesser extent, observation where the
researcher casually observed people working in their offices during visits. Interviews
were conducted with key informants from the two institutions chosen to answer the
research questions, and particularly to find out what each of them thought about the
extent to which ICTs have changed their institutions, that is, the way they do things.
To complement these interviews, information was sought from newspapers to
establish the general stance on ICTs in the country, in the absence of a country policy.

18.1 The Interview

The choice of the interview as a tool in this research process was influenced by the
nature of the study as well as the characteristics of the interview as a method.

44
According to Kvale (1996), an interview is a conversation that has a structure and a
purpose.
It goes beyond the spontaneous exchange of views as in everyday conversation, and
becomes a careful questioning and listening approach with the purpose of obtaining
thoroughly tested knowledge (Kvale 1996:6)
Since the study is an exploration of the status of ICT in Higher Education and the
influence of policy on the status, this researcher needed a tool that could get
information beyond mere numbers. There was need to dig deeper into the dynamics of
policy making and policy influence, and to go beyond the mere existence of ICTs into
their use. In a word, there was need for people’s views, which could be obtained from
what they had to say, as well as what they could not say or did not say, and how they
say it, from their postures and from their expressions. These are things that a
questionnaire survey could not provide, but which the interview provided and given
the time frame of the study, it proved to be ideal.

The interview also gives an opportunity for following up with questions where
clarifications are needed and as an interviewer, one can control the way the discussion
goes, and can be sure that the interviewee understands the questions the way the
interviewer wants them understood. The interview offered this researcher a chance to
record the interviews with a view to reliving the interview experience whenever it was
called for. Hoepfl (1997) says that whether one relies on written notes or a tape
recorder appears to be largely a matter of personal preference. She quotes Patton
(1990) as saying that a tape recorder is “indispensable” while Lincoln and Guba
(1985) do not recommend recording due to the intrusiveness of recording devices and
the possibility of technical failure. For this researcher, the small tape recorder that was
used to record the interviews did not seem to present any problem as all the
interviewees seemed very comfortable being recorded. This researcher found that
recording gave the advantage of capturing data more faithfully than hurriedly written
notes might, and made it easier for me to focus on the interview.

An interview guide was used throughout the interviews in this study. An interview
guide or schedule is a list of general topics that the interviewer wants to explore
during each interview (Hoepfl, 1997). Although it is prepared to ensure that basically
the same information is obtained from each person, there are no determined responses

45
and in semi-structured interviews, the interviewer is able to probe and explore within
these predetermined inquiry areas. Hoepfl (1997) encourages the use of interview
guides as they ensure good use of limited interview time, as well as making
interviewing multiple subjects more systematic, comprehensive and focused.

18.1.1 Open-ended Interviews

Face-to-face interviews in the open-ended format were used in this study. Creswell
(1994) says that one disadvantage of using this technique is that it provides indirect
information from filtered through the views of the interviewees. Kvale argues that the
semi-structured interview is the best method to gain knowledge of the interviewee’s
perceptions and interpretations of a given phenomenon.

18.1.2 Tele interviews

These are researcher interviews by phone (Creswell, 1994). They were employed in
this study particularly for the interviewees at NUST who could not be reached by this
researcher due to time as well as financial constraints. The interviews were conducted
in a similar way to the face-to-face interviews, with the only difference being that in
this case, the phone replaced the face-to-face element. In as much as this technique
cannot be as effective as the face-to-face interview in that the observational element is
missing, it compensates for this shortcoming where the interviewee is freer and thus
able to say things that he or she might not be willing to say in a face-to-face interview.

18.2 Document Analysis

According to Hoepfl (1997), document analysis can be invaluable to the qualitative
researcher. Documents might include official records, letters, newspaper accounts,
diaries and reports, as well as the published data used in a review of literature (ibid).
In this study, documents that were analyzed included the policy documents on ICT at
the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, strategic plans from the two
institutions chosen for this study, and newspaper accounts reflecting activity in ICT in
Higher Education in Zimbabwe. Creswell (1994) says that documents are useful in
that they are an unobtrusive source of information, which can be accessed at a time
convenient to the researcher. They represent data which is thoughtful in that
informants have given attention to compiling them, and as written evidence, they save
the researcher the time and expense of transcribing (Creswell, 1994). Weiss

46
(1998:260) says that because documents are written “contemporaneously… thus
(they) are not subject to memory decay or memory distortion.”

The greatest disadvantage that I experienced with documents was that some of them
were said to be protected information, unavailable to the public. Yin (1994: 81)
suggests that documents should be used with caution; “They should not be accepted
as literal recordings of events that have taken place”. In a case study, the use of
documents should thus mainly be to support and enhance evidence from other sources
(ibid). Newspaper articles are particularly not always true, and thus the authenticity of
some of the newspaper accounts used in this study may be questionable. In spite of
these few glitches, I found documents very useful in my understanding of the policy
landscape of ICT in higher education in Zimbabwe.

19 The Quality of the Research Design

Because there are no operationally defined truth tests to apply to qualitative research,
the researcher and the readers share a joint responsibility for establishing the value of
the qualitative research product (Hoepfl, 1997). Pragmatic validation of qualitative
research means that the perspective presented is judged by its relevance to and use by
those to whom it is presented (Patton, 1990 cited in Hoepfl, 1997). Reliability and
validity are important criteria in establishing and assessing the quality of research for
quantitative researchers, but a lot of discussion has been going on the relevance of
these for qualitative research. This study has adopted of Guba and Lincoln (1994)’s
alternative concepts, trustworthiness and authenticity. It is important to note that there
has been a lot of criticism of Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) alternative set of criteria (see,
e.g. Smith and Heshusius, 1986), however, these concepts were born out of the belief
that there are no absolute truths about the social world as presupposed by the concepts
of reliability and validity, but that instead there can possibly be several accounts of
social reality (Bryman, 2004).

19.1 Trustworthiness
According to Bryman (2004), trustworthiness is made up of four criteria, each of
which has an equivalent in quantitative research, which are credibility, which parallels
validity, transferability, which parallels external validity, dependability, which
parallels reliability and confirmability, which parallels objectivity.

47
19.1.1 Credibility

Unlike the conventional researcher, the naturalist (qualitative) researcher assumes the
presence of multiple realities and attempts to present these adequately and credibility
becomes the test for that (Hoepfl, 1997). According to Bryman (2004), if there can be
several possible accounts of an aspect of social reality, it is the credibility of the
account that a researcher arrives at that is going to determine its acceptability to
others. Credibility depends less on the sample size than the richness of the
information gathered and on the analytical abilities of the researcher (Hoepfl, 1997).
The establishment of the credibility of findings entails both ensuring that research is
carried out according to good practice and submitting findings to members of the
social world who have studied before for confirmation that the investigator has
understood that social world, or triangulation (Bryman, 2004). Triangulation entails
using more than one method or source of data in the study of a social phenomenon
and results in greater confidence in findings (Bryman, 2004, Hoepfl, 1997). In this
study, data source triangulation has been used as interviews, documents and other
secondary information has been used.

19.1.2 Transferability

In conventional research, external validity refers to the ability to generalize findings

across different settings (Hoepfl, 1997). Although Lincoln and Guba (1985) admit
that generalizability is an appealing concept because it allows a semblance of
prediction and control over situations, they suggest that the existence of local
conditions make it impossible to generalize. To support this, Hoepfl (1997) states that
when proper weight is given to local conditions, any generalization is a working
hypothesis and not a conclusion. Since qualitative research involves the study of a
small group or individuals sharing certain characteristics, in this case, university
communities, the findings tend to be oriented towards contextual uniqueness and
significance of the aspect of the social world being studied. Guba and Lincoln cited
in Bryman (2004:275) say that whether findings hold in some other context or even in
the same context at some other time, is an empirical issue, and thus not relevant for
qualitative researchers. What qualitative researchers are encouraged to produce are
rich accounts of the details, which provide others with a database for making
judgments about the possible transferability of findings to other milieus (Bryman,
2004). This study has tried as much as possible to give accounts on the status of ICT

48
in HE in Zimbabwe as well as the role of policy from the perspective of various actors
in the policy arena, lecturers and students in the two institutions chosen, as well as the
analysis of the researcher of these accounts. It is hoped that the study can be a
reference point for others working on ICT in different contexts.

19.1.3 Dependability

Reliability is the stability of a measurement over time (Hoepfl, 1997). Lincoln and
Guba (1985), have said that since there can be no validity without reliability (and thus
no credibility without dependability), a demonstration of the former is sufficient to
establish the latter. This means that once a researcher has demonstrated the credibility
of their research, its dependability is automatically assured. However, they also
propose that in order to enhance dependability, an audit inquiry can be used. This
involves reviewers examining the process and the product of the research for
consistency. What this means for me is that ultimately, it is the people sitting on my
panel for the defense of my thesis who shall determine the dependability of my study.

19.1.4 Objectivity

Conventional wisdom says that research, which relies on quantitative measures to

define a situation, is relatively value free and hence objective. Qualitative research,
which relies on interpretations and is value-laden, is considered subjective, hence
leading to results that are both unreliable and invalid (Hoepfl, 1997). There are many
researchers who call into question the true objectivity of statistical measures and
indeed the possibility of ever attaining pure objectivity. Lincoln and Guba (1985)
choose to speak of confirmability, which, in a sense refers to the degree with which
the researcher can demonstrate the neutrality of the research interpretations through a
confirmability audit. Hoepfl (1997) strives for "empathic neutrality" where empathy is
a stance towards the people in the study and neutrality is a stance towards the
findings. As a neutral researcher I have tried to be non-judgmental in the presentation
of my findings.

20 Ethical Issues
As my study deals with real people in real life situations, and potentially sensitive
issues of policy in an environment, which is politically charged, I had to pay
particular attention to ethical issue. The study entailed intruding on people’s work

49
domains, interrupting their routines, asking them questions about what they do, know
and think, hence it was essential to make sure that I was honest with them, that they
consented in their participation in the study and that their responses would be held in
strict confidence.

Most of my respondents were interviewed in their official capacities, and hence most
of their responses reflected the views and stances of their various offices. However,
there were instances where personal opinions were provided which were not
necessarily in line with the stance of the offices they represented. This was done with
the unspoken understanding that these parts of the interview will be treated carefully.
Thus even though the issue of anonymity was never brought up, I felt duty bound to
protect my sources, therefore decided not to use any official names throughout the
study. To distinguish the informants from each other, and to show the various
institutions that they represented, they are referred to, throughout this study, as
Ministry Informant, UZ ICT Implementer, NUST ICT Implementer, UZ Lecturer,
NUST Lecturer, UZ Student, NUST Student and Other Informant, with numbers
differentiating them.

In a sense, the study can be seen as an evaluation of the status of ICTs and their
policy implications, and thus evokes finger pointing in some instances. As the object
of the study was to highlight issues and to show gaps, it was not necessary to induce
conflict, but to encourage all parties involved in the diffusion of ICTs to work
together towards the same goal.

Finally, as the study asked for people’s time, information and opinion, I felt duty-
bound to reciprocate by reporting my findings to the people that have made this study
possible. To this end, copies of this thesis were promised to the Ministry, the two
institutions that were chosen for the study, and to any other informants who were
interested in reading the findings.

21 The Sample
According to Patton (1990) cited in Hoepfl (1997), there are no strict criteria for
sample size in qualitative research. Hoepfl (1997) says that purposeful sampling is the
dominant strategy. It seeks information-rich cases, which can be studied in depth. A

50
non-probability sampling approach was selected for this study, which means that
interviewees were not chosen at random. A snowball sampling method was used to
select the interviewees within the policy making group. Snowball sampling begins
with identifying someone who meets the criteria for inclusion in the study, then that
person is asked to recommend others who also meet the criteria (Trochim, 2003, cited
in Oftebro, 2004). Faugier and Sargeant (1997) contend that if the aim of the study is
primarily explorative, qualitative and descriptive, snowball sampling offers practical
advantages in obtaining information on difficult–to-observe phenomena, in particular
in areas that involve sensitive issues. The policy process can be classified as a
difficult-to-observe phenomenon as it involves a lot of actors, and what you observe is
generally not what is. Furthermore, in a country like Zimbabwe which, is going
through a very rough patch both economically and politically at the moment, every
issue becomes sensitive and I found it a lot easier to be referred.

Spreen (1992) has put snowball sampling as part of a general concept of link-tracing
methodologies in which the respondent is asked to mention other persons according to
some criteria defined by the researcher, and Berg (1988) cited in Faugier and Sargeant
(1997), portrays such sampling methodologies as being created by a series of referrals
that are made within a circle of people who know each other. Salganik and
Heckathorn (2004) refer to this as a chain referral design and they consider it
appropriate for studying characteristics of social networks. Whatever one chooses to
call it snowball sampling provides an efficient and economic way of finding cases
(people) that may otherwise be difficult and important to locate or contact (Faugier
and Sargeant, 1997), and this was particularly useful in this study. The researcher
realizes that this sampling method reduces the representativeness of the sampled
group, however the face-to-face interview as a data gathering technique may
downplay this risk.

22 The Fieldwork
Equipped with the names of some of my key informants, my interview guide,
information that I had read on ICT and Higher Education as well as information from
my supervisor as well as our course coordinator on how to conduct research, I set out
for my fieldwork in June 2004. I thought that this was going to be very easy as I was

51
going to do the fieldwork in my own country, but nothing could have prepared me for
the difficulties that I encountered during my research.

22.1 Key Informants

Locating Key informants was not very difficult since I had already decided on whom
to see first, and since the snowball effect was going to be used, I did not think there
would be any problems. The major problem encountered with key informants was
getting in touch with them as they were always reported to be out of the office.

22.2 Reception by Informants

I had anticipated that some of my informants would regard me with suspicion
considering that I was investigating a potentially sensitive topic especially where it
touches on policy. However all of my participants were very eager to help once I got
to see them. This could be because most of them were academics that have at some
point in their careers had to do research, and thus empathized with me. I also think
that the use of the snowball sampling method helped a lot in the reception I got as it
was very easy to open up to a person who had been referred by a fellow colleague,
friend or contact.

22.3 Information Dissemination

Most of my informants had no problems giving information, as most of them were
experts in their field. However, there were cases where it was obvious that some were
answering the interview questions in a politically correct manner. With the current
political situation in Zimbabwe, it is not surprising that people have to be careful what
they say.

22.4 Other Practical Issues

The general atmosphere in the country was a factor that impacted on the study in that
everything has really deteriorated in the two years since I left the country. The
standard response to any question, tended to be “things are a lot better now”, hence
this can give a false indication of any situation. Because of the slow pace with which
the interviews were moving in Harare, it became impossible for me to visit Bulawayo
where the second institution (NUST) is situated. A decision was therefore made to
conduct the interviews with people at NUST over the phone. This was done with the
knowledge that a slight change in the methodology on the interview might affect the

52
outcome of the study. However, the effect of this change was thought to be minimal,
hence insignificant to the overall results.

23 Data Analysis
Qualitative data analysis can be defined as working with data, organizing it, breaking
it into manageable units, synthesizing it, searching for patterns, discovering what is
important and what is to be learnt and deciding what you will tell others (Hoepfl,
1997:54). Qualitative researchers tend to use inductive analysis of data, meaning that
the critical themes emerge out of the data (Hoepfl, 1997). Qualitative analysis requires
some creativity for the challenge is to place the raw data into logical, meaningful
categories; to examine them in a holistic fashion and to find a way to communicate
this interpretation to others (Hoepfl, 1997). The analysis begins with the identification
of themes emerging from the raw data, a process sometimes referred to as “open
coding” (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). This study opted for an ad hoc data analysis
method.

24 Conclusion
Since this study was an exploratory study seeking to find out the status of ICT in HE
in Zimbabwe, and to explore the policy implications on this status, qualitative
methods were seen as appropriate. The political environment in the country, which
makes any form of interrogation suspicious and political, as well as the limited time
frame of the study were influential in the choice of the interview for data gathering
and the snowball sampling technique. It is hoped that notwithstanding the fact that all
the choices made in this study represent biases that might influence the outcome of
the study, the findings will nonetheless contribute to an understanding of the status of
ICT in HE in Zimbabwe and the important place that policy holds in the integration of
these technologies. Before the findings are presented, it seems important to first
present the country specific contextual issues as well as some background information
on the two cases that have been chosen for this study.

53
4 Chapter 4 Country Context

25 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to put the whole discussion on the status of ICT in
Higher education as well as the effects of policy, in the context of Zimbabwe as a
country. The chapter will briefly give a historical account of the education system, the
current trends in education as well as the socio-economic and political context, which
is the backdrop on which the developments discussed in this study should be seen.
Writing in the foreword to Domatob (1998), Dr Abraham Ndiwane notes that, Higher
education reforms, whether formal, informal or non-formal are more likely to be
sustained in a climate that is politically and economically strong. Both cannot be said
for Zimbabwe, as the country is going through the worst repression ever in economic
as well as political terms. In discussing the status of ICT in higher education in
Zimbabwe, and the role of policy, it is important to review developments in the sector
over the past two decades. Of particular importance are the legacy of colonialism and
the extent to which the government has managed to redress the various issues arising
at independence (Morrison, 2001). This will also help in understanding the extent to
which historical and institutional factors impact on the uptake and adoption of ICTs
for teaching and learning, administration and for research.

26 Historical Background
The colonial era was characterized by policies of racial discrimination in education
and society as well as glaring inequalities in the provision of education and training
(Nziramasanga Commission Report, 1999)22. For almost a century, a dual system of
education existed in Zimbabwe – one for Africans and the other for Europeans. The
discrimination applied not only to students but also to the curriculum, its content,
scope and provision of infrastructure and financial resources (ibid). It facilitated the
provision of a compulsory, highly privileged and advanced education for European
children geared to prepare them for economic, political, social and technological
dominance and leadership. In contrast was the inferior, unbalanced, non-compulsory,
poorly financed and rigorously state controlled African education primarily provided

22
In 1998, The President of Zimbabwe, RG Mugabe appointed a twelve member Commission of Inquiry into Education and
Training under Statutory Instrument 7C of 1998. The Commission was tasked to among other things look into the inherited
education system for relevance, quality and orientation in the rapidly changing socio-economic environment and the basic
principles and philosophy of Zimbabwe’s educational and training needs and aspirations on the eve of the 21st century with
regard to the challenges of a competitive global environment in the Information Age.

54
by Christian churches (Nziramasanga Commission Report, 1999). The African
education was designed to produce poorly educated children who could be cheap
laborers for the white employers and communities. At the same time, it was
rigorously controlled so that it could not produce learners who could compete with
white children on the job market as well as to ensure limited access by the majority of
African children (ibid). Welle-Strand (1996:62) supports this assertion where she
says,
The white regimes tried to control both the administrative structure and the curriculum,
through a dual education system with different aims and purposes. One system was for
the white children and aimed to prepare them for their predetermined status in life, i.e.,
to be masters and employers. The other system was for the African children, aimed at
preparing them for a life as servants.
It became the principle objective of the new government following independence in
1980 to redress the situation.

According to the Nziramasanga Commission Report (1999), the new government took
aggressive and positive steps to redress the inequalities that existed in the past. It
adopted socialism as its overall policy. With regard to the education sector, this policy
focused on the need to seriously change the social injustices and imbalances of the
past23. Welle-Strand (1996) says that the ZANU government, which came into power
in 1980, had two major educational goals: to expand access to education and to end
the racist bias of the previous system. The education and training sector was
democratized, primary education was made free and the overall emphasis was that
“education should develop pupils who were masters in building a new culture derived
from the best (of the country’s) heritage and history” (Nziramasanga Commission
Report, 1999:9). However, in order to achieve these objectives huge sums of money
had to be found either through the government’s own budgetary allocations and/or
through financial assistance by way of support from international funding and
technical assistance agencies. Serious involvement of international agencies, NGOs
and foreign governments in education and other sectors in Zimbabwe thus started in
earnest when Zimbabwe attained its independence in 198024.
23
Review of Education Sector Analysis in Zimbabwe http://www.adeanet.org/wgesa/en/doc/zimeng/chapter_5.htm accessed on
09/02/2005
24
Review of Education Sector Analysis in Zimbabwe http://www.adeanet.org/wgesa/en/doc/zimeng/chapter_5.htm accessed on
09/02/2005

55
Soon after the attainment of independence, the Government of Zimbabwe organized a
major Conference on Reconstruction and Development (ZIMCORD). The purpose of
ZIMCORD was to enable Zimbabwe to woo international agencies and government
aid to assist in the reconstruction of its infrastructure, which had been destroyed
during the protracted war of liberation. ZIMCORD was successful as many agencies
and foreign governments committed themselves to assist with the rebuilding of the
new country. The new government’s policies on education were well received by the
international community, particularly its emphasis on basic education as a
fundamental human right and the area of human development generally. International
agencies viewed education, training and improvement of managerial skills as major
concerns for the newly independent Zimbabwe (ibid).

However, in spite of outstanding gains made in the first decade of independence,

especially in the area of expansion of education and the attendant increase in access to
education for the otherwise underserved groups, a number of gaps and constraints still
persisted. These included among other things, inadequate funding, shortage of
lecturers at technical colleges and at the University of Zimbabwe due largely to poor
conditions of service, skills shortages exacerbated by emigration of such highly
trained technical staff as medical doctors, pilots, architects, accountants and teachers,
especially in the mathematics, science and technical areas, to neighboring countries
offering better conditions of service, general shortage of infrastructure such as books,
science equipment and other essential learning facilities.

According to a Zimbabwe National Report (2001)25, at the dawn of the last decade of
the twentieth century, Zimbabwe had two ministries of Education: the Ministry of
Education Sports and Culture and the Ministry of Higher Education and Technology.
The Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture organizes, structures and manages
education from pre-primary to secondary school level and also deals with non-formal
education, adult literacy and technical, vocational and commercial education at
secondary level (ibid). The Ministry of Higher Education and Technology organizes

25
The report is entitled “ The Developments in Education: The Education System at the end of the 20th Century” It was prepared
by The Zimbabwe National Commission for UNESCO, The Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and The Ministry of
Higher Education and Technology.

56
and manages tertiary education focusing on teacher, technical, vocational and
university education (ibid).

Government expenditure on education has been quite substantial over the years
(National Report, 2001). The reason for this just after independence has been given as
the need by government to redress the imbalance that had been the norm during the
colonial era. According to a Herald report, in the 2004 annual budget, the education
sector received $2, 08 trillion, which constituted 25, 24 percent of the country’s $8, 74
trillion national budget26. The number of universities offering degree programs has
also risen from one in 1980 to 12 today, while annual enrolment has increased 50-fold
from 1 000 to 54 000 by 200227. Teachers’ training colleges have also increased from
four to 15 in the past 25 years while annual student enrolment grew from a mere 1
000 to nearly 20 00028. In 1980, the country had two technical colleges in Harare and
Bulawayo, with enrolments of about 2 000 students but these have now increased to
10, accepting more than 15 000 students every year29.

26.1 Socio-economic and Political Context

Zimbabwe had the largest and most diversified economy in sub-Saharan Africa,
however, the country has been struggling over the last decade following disastrous
droughts and socialist-inspired economic policies.30 The country’s economy is at its
lowest ever with inflation levels having reached record highs in 2003. The
government’s decision to nationalize nearly all of the country’s commercial farms has
led to a sharp decline in export earnings as well as food production (Robertson,
undated)31. This has marked the beginning of a host of problems that the country finds
itself in, including shortage of foreign currency, food shortages, fuel shortages etc32.
According to the 2003 edition of the World Factbook33,

26
http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40021&pubdate=2005-01-25 accessed on 25/01/2005
27
http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40021&pubdate=2005-01-25 accessed on 25/01/2005
28
http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40021&pubdate=2005-01-25 accessed on 25/01/2005
29
http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40021&pubdate=2005-01-25 accessed on 25/01/2005
30
http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/country_profiles/zimbabwe/zimbab.htm accessed on 01/03/2005
31
“ The Zimbabwean Economy: The Current Position and the Way Forward found at
http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/Monographs/No87/Chap3.pdf accessed on 02/03/2005
32
The Government land reform programme is very controversial subject, the details of which are beyond the scope of this
project.
33
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/zi.html#Econ accessed on 01/03/2005

57
 The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it
struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued exchange rate, soaring
inflation, and bare shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, for example, drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the
economy. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the
country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in
1998 to 59% in 1999, to 60% in 2000, to over 100% by yearend 2001, to 228% in early
2003. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has
nearly destroyed the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and
foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs. The GDP declined 13% in 2003,
and unemployment has reached 70%.
In a sense, this is a summary of the situation in Zimbabwe and it is important to note
that nothing has significantly improved since this World Factbook assessment. With
the economy struggling like this, Higher Education can only mirror the country’s
problems and this has major implications for the diffusion of ICTs in the country.
In an Assessment of the economic situation in Zimbabwe, Robertson34 (undated: 57)
has this to say:
While Zimbabwe has very few options on what to do next and what the country can do
without help, the best official efforts will not be taken seriously until government
adopts acceptable policies…(and) because the current difficulties stem from self-
inflicted handicaps, the needed commitments to restore the country’s growth prospects
have to come from within, and have to be political rather than economic.
He observes that the work needed to help the country become a more attractive
investment destination is yet to start, and that while that start continues to be delayed,
the country will find it increasingly difficult to maintain its existing infrastructure.
The accelerating outflow of skills will further undermine the country’s efforts (ibid).

26.2 ICT Focus in Education

Focus on the integration of ICTs in education dates back to the establishment of the
National University of Science and Technology in 1990. This was taken up further by
the Nziramasanga Commission of 1998 when the Commission was tasked among
other things to look into the inherited education system for relevance, quality and
orientation in the rapidly changing socio-economic environment and the basic

34
“ The Zimbabwean Economy: The Current Position and the Way Forward found at
http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/Monographs/No87/Chap3.pdf accessed on 02/03/2005

58
principles and philosophy of Zimbabwe’s educational and training needs and
aspirations on the eve of the 21st century with regard to the challenges of a
competitive global environment in the Information Age (Nziramasanga Commission
Report 1999: Foreword). An article in The Herald35 quoted President Mugabe as
saying that his government considered the full adoption of the information and
communication technologies (ICTS) revolution as an agent for the transformation of
every facet of human life, which would bring about a knowledge-based society.
Government has noted that economies, which have fully exploited the ICTS revolution,
have developed rapidly. My Government considers ICTS as an agent for the
transformation of every facet of human life, which will bring about a knowledge-based
society (The President R. G. Mugabe in “The Herald”) 36.
He is quoted as having said that the government would play a co-coordinating role
with private sector enterprises involved in putting together the information technology
infrastructure," with an ultimate aim to see computers being available in rural areas
coming at a ratio of one computer per 25 people by the 2015 (ibid).

In his State of the Nation address in December 2004, the president of Zimbabwe, said
that it was vital that the national education system was upgraded to make it IT-
conscious and compliant37. He promised that the government as a whole would be
formulating a program for the schools’ computerization program to make it more
comprehensive. However, while this is noteworthy, it is important to realize that
Zimbabwe has fallen behind most of its fellow African countries in the diffusion of
ICTs. Figure 4 presents a table of indicators showing the penetration of the
information economy in the SADC region.

Figure 4: SADC ICT penetration indicators

Country Personal Computers Internet ICT expenditure
In education Per 1000 Users 20hrs % of secure % of Per capita
People 1000 use monthly servers GDP $
pple $ GNI per
2002 2002 capita
2002 2003 2003 2003 2002 2002
Angola 1.9 -- 3 79 143.3 1 -- --
Botswana 40.7 -- 30 27 10.9 -- -- --
Malawi 1.3 -- 3 62 465.0 -- -- --
Mozambique 4.5 -- 2 51 290.2 2 -- --
Namibia 70.9 -- 27 33 22.5 9 -- --
South Africa 72.6 364 722 68 33 15.4 648 9.2 225

35
The Herald at www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=37658&pubdate=2004-11-11 accessed 11/11/2004
36
The Herald at www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=37658&pubdate=2004-11-11 accessed 11/11/2004
37
http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=40021&pubdate=2005-01-25 accessed on 25/01/2005

59
Zambia 7.5 -- 5 33 118.7 -- -- --
Zimbabwe 51.6 -- 43 23 58.3 7 -- --
Source: Adapted from World Development Report 2004: 294

Although the statistics might be understated, particularly on personal computers, they

nonetheless give a picture of the situation in Zimbabwe as far as the integration of
ICTs is concerned. In terms of the number of personal computers per 1000 people,
Zimbabwe is third after South Africa and Namibia. Other statistics from the African
Development Indicators (2003) show that in 1999, the number of personal computers
per 1000 people in Zimbabwe was 13,0 and in 2000, it was 11.87. This could be
explained by an increase in population, which was not followed by a subsequent
increase in importation. While this number has increased to 51, 6 in 2002 as indicated
above, a national ICT policy can improve the situation tremendously.

26.3 Policy Issues in the Zimbabwean Context

In HE where institutional autonomy is a central concern, much attention tends to be
given to the question of the extent to which change is generated by actors and events
within the system or the extent to which changes are introduced and driven through by
outside forces (Bleiklie 2002). In Zimbabwe, all Education sectors are bound by the
Education Act (1992) as amended in (1996) which states that,
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other enactment, but
subject to this Act, every child in Zimbabwe shall have the right to school education
(Part 2: 619).
Higher Education policy is determined by the state, through the Ministry of Higher
and Tertiary Education (MoHTE) formerly the Ministry of Higher Education and
Technology (MoHET). The MoHTE is responsible for the organization, financing,
development and co-ordination of Higher Education in Zimbabwe, focusing on
teacher, technical, vocational and university education38. Its mission statement reads:
…to provide, regulate and facilitate tertiary education and training through the
planning, development and implementation of effective policies, the provision of
resources and management of institutions in order to meet the human resource
requirements of the economy and equip individuals to realize their full potential.
(1990-200 National report, 2001:5)

38
The developments in education: The Education System at the End of the 20th Century 1990 – 2000, The Republic of
Zimbabwe National Report

60
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) bound by its Act of 1990
facilitates the establishment of universities and university colleges, accreditation and
standardization of programs (National report, 2001). There is also the Zimbabwe
Universities’ Vice-Chancellors’ Association (ZUVA) whose role is to provide a
means whereby universities can take counsel together on matters of mutual concern;
to formulate advice to governing bodies to take other appropriate action whenever it
believes this could be useful and to collect and disseminate to universities information
on matters of mutual interest. The National Report (2001) states that Acts of
parliament govern the operations of public universities while private universities are
granted Charters stipulating the operations of such institutions.

Tertiary education in Zimbabwe is made up of polytechnics and technical colleges

(8); teacher training colleges (14); vocational skills training centers (29); seven
universities as well as two university colleges affiliated to the UZ as well as over 350
privately owned institutions most of which offer commercial programs (National
report, 2001). Inevitably, these figures have gone up and today Zimbabwe has 12
universities in total (Ministry Informant # 1). The National Report (2001) also states
that until recently, the operations of the ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education
were highly centralized, with all crucial decisions being made at the Head Office in
Harare. However, there has been decentralization of authority and responsibilities to
Higher Education institutions.

In 1999, the government of Zimbabwe instituted a Presidential Commission inquiry

into education and training led by a prominent educator, Dr C.T. Nziramasanga, and
popularly known as The Nziramasanga Commission Inquiry. Term of Reference 1.2
required that the commission:
…collect evidence and make recommendations on the basic principles and
philosophy of Zimbabwe’s educational and training needs and aspirations on the eve
of the twenty-first century, and having regard to the challenges of a competitive
global environment in the information age (Nziramasanga Commission Report,
1999:21)
According to the National report (2001), the commission recommended among other
things, the refocusing of education on the sciences, mathematics, technology and life
skills. This resulted in the Science and Technology Policy of 2002, which

61
acknowledges the crucial role of science and technology in the country’s socio-
economic development. The policy states that:
… the promotion of S&T (science and technology) in a country requires a policy
framework within which the essential programs can be implemented (Science and
Technology Policy, 2002: iv Foreword).
Having stated this, one wonders how then it is that the country still has no ICT policy
to govern and regulate the diffusion of ICT. Although the Science and technology
Policy (2002) acknowledges “science and technology are international in character…
(and that) Zimbabwe should encourage maximum use of the vast international S&T
resources through cooperation with regional and international organizations”, it is
silent on the actual role of these regional and international organizations. This is
particularly interesting since most technological projects (especially in HE) are
funded from outside the country, and thus these organizations become actors in policy
arena.

A review of Education sector studies in Zimbabwe 39 has noted that, there is always a
need to clarify the nature of partnership between (aid) agencies and the Government
of Zimbabwe. The review notes that the terms of reference of a study (or in the case
of ICT, a project) are usually agreed between an agency and the Government of
Zimbabwe, but the consultants who carry out the particular studies (projects) are hired
by the agency and report to the officers of the agency. Also to be notated is the point
that agencies might have regional or global interests concerning a particular project
given their other interests in different parts of the world, and may, therefore, sponsor a
study for comparative purposes with similar studies elsewhere. The government, on
the other hand, might be concerned with its own specific problems as determined by
its own specific circumstances and context and, therefore, quite possible that there
might be a divergence of interests between the government and the agency involved
in a particular study40. It is in this context then, that the Higher Education policy
process in Zimbabwe will be examined in relation to its impact on the status of ICT in
Higher Education in Zimbabwe.

39
Review of Education Sector Analysis in Zimbabwe http://www.adeanet.org/wgesa/en/doc/zimeng/chapter_2.htm accessed on
09/02/2005
40
Review of Education Sector Analysis in Zimbabwe http://www.adeanet.org/wgesa/en/doc/zimeng/chapter_2.htm accessed on
09/02/2005

62
27 The Cases
As Africans continue to seek innovative solutions to the problems which affect so many of
our countries, Universities have realized that their role in society extends beyond the
imparting of knowledge within the confines of their institutions. We all agree that African
universities as well as the African intelligentsia have to occupy the centre-stage with regard
to the challenges of the regeneration of the African continent.”41 (South African President
Thabo Mbeki, 2005)

Following independence in 1980, Zimbabwe had only one university, the University
of Zimbabwe (UZ). However, as part of the human resource development planning,
policy and strategies, more universities have been established through the National
Council for HE (Zvobgo, 1997). Today there are about twelve universities in the
country; UZ, NUST, Africa University (AU), Solusi University, Zimbabwe Open
University (ZOU), Midlands State University, Catholic University, Masvingo State
University, Bindura State University, Chinhoyi State Univeristy, Great Zimbabwe
University and (Morrison, 2001), (Ministry Informant # 1). This study is however
restricted to only two of the twelve universities in the country due to time and
resource restrictions. As previously stated, the two universities were chosen because
of their unique characteristics and what they could reveal about the status of ICT in
Higher Education in Zimbabwe.

27.1 The University of Zimbabwe

According to Morrison (2001), most African universities and institutions of HE have
in the space of only three decades moved from being small and elitist institutions
derived from colonial metropolitan centres to sites of national development with large
numbers of students disproportionate to human, financial and infrastructural
resources. This is true for Zimbabwe particularly when one is talking about the
University of Zimbabwe. The University was incorporated by Royal Charter on 11
February 1955 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. In 1971, the
University gained its full status as the University of Rhodesia and in 1980 the
University became the University of Zimbabwe. The University celebrated 50 years
of service to the nation in February 2005. Since its establishment, the UZ has grown

41
South African President Thabo Mbeki 2 January on Receiving the Honorary Doctorate from the Africa International
University, Khartoum, Sudan http://www.chet.org.za/current.php accessed on 10/02/2005

63
to be the biggest university in the country, offering degrees in ten faculties 42. The
University is situated 6km North of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. All ten faculties are
located at the Mt Pleasant site. The College of Medicine is situated at Parirenyatwa
Hospital, Zimbabwe’s largest referral hospital.
The vision of the UZ reads;
To be (and be recognized by others as) a leading University working for prosperity,
peace and dignity in Zimbabwe and beyond.43
Its mission statement reads;
Enabling our clients and customers to make meaningful contributions to sustainable
development in Zimbabwe. To this end we provide high quality education, training
and advisory services on a needs oriented basis. We guarantee the above by
maintaining excellence in Teaching, Learning, Research and Service to the
Community44
There is no specification of the use of ICTs in either the institution’s vision or mission
statement, and one might hasten to conclude that ICTs are not a priority in this matter.
The addition of a reference to ICTs can make a lot of difference in how the institution
can be perceived, as well as how the members of the institution view the diffusion of
ICTs.

27.2 The National University of Science and Technology

The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) was established in 1990
by an Act of parliament following recommendations on the desirability of a second
state university in the country. It was established to provide science and technology
higher education with a strong link to industry and commerce. Using English as the
language of instruction, NUST provides an invigorating intellectual climate, which
fosters an academic community where both staff and students can push back the
frontiers of knowledge in science and technology 45. As such NUST is a center of
research, and has ties with universities on the African continent as well as the world.
NUST is located in the City of Bulawayo, South West of Zimbabwe.

42
The ten faculties are; Law, Social Studies, Commerce, Medicine, Veterinary Science, Arts, Education, Agriculture,
Engineering, and Science.
43
http://www.uz.ac.zw/information/uz.html accessed on 09/02/2005
44
http://www.uz.ac.zw/information/uz.html accessed on 09/02/2005
45
http://www.nust.ac.zw/about/index.htm accessed on 09/03/2005

64
NUST’s vision46 reads;
The University aims to produce an innovative and creating graduate who is a good
citizen, who can
 stand one's ground in academia
 stand one's ground in industry and commerce
 stand one's ground in the non-formal sector
Its’ mission47 statement reads;
The primary mission of the University is to serve the people of Zimbabwe. It strives
to be a first rate university nationally, regionally and in the general international
fraternity of universities. NUST aims at the advancement of knowledge with a special
bias towards the diffusion and extension of Science and Technology through
teaching, pure research, applied research, and fostering of close ties with industry.
The vision and mission statements of NUST portray an institution that has ICTs as a
central focus. Even where the vision does not specify the use of ICTs, the use of
words such as innovation is reminiscent of ICTs. Thus right from the outset, NUST
can be perceived as a technological university. The expectations on ICT infrastructure
at NUST are therefore higher than that on the UZ.

28 Conclusion
The colonial history of Zimbabwe, the socio-economic as well as the political
situation at the time of the study are factors that help understand the context in which
ICTs are being adopted in the country. They help put into perspective the difficulties
that are faced by Zimbabwean institutions in their endeavours to adopt ICTs and
become competitive in the global economy. The two cases chosen for this study have
quite a few differences. The UZ is a larger and older institution boasting of 10
faculties and having been established in 1955 while NUST while NUST is a much
smaller institution with only 4 faculties and established in 1990. This difference
makes UZ much more susceptible to resistance to change as it has had 50 years of
institutionalising the way things are done. On the other hand, NUST is a “young and
progressive university”48which is more likely to be open to change. The other
difference is that UZ is offers a wider range of specialization areas, while NUST is a
technologically biased institution. This makes it more inclined towards a quicker
46
http://www.nust.ac.zw/about/vision.html accessed on 09/03/2005
47
http://www.nust.ac.zw/about/vision.html accessed on 09/03/2005
48
http://www.nust.ac.zw/about/index.htm accessed on 09/03/2005

65
adoption of ICTs. However, the institutions are both state owned universities, and
thus they both rely on state funding for the bulk of their operations.

5 Chapter 5 Analysis of Findings

29 Introduction
The findings presented in this chapter are based on face to face as well as telephone
interviews conducted with policy makers in Higher Education in Zimbabwe, ICT
Implementers, Lectures and students from two institutions, the UZ and NUST, other
people in Higher Education as well as the analysis of various policy documents and
media coverage. The data is presented as case-by-case analysis of the major themes
emerging from the interviews. According to the Activity Theory Framework, each
case represents an activity system, and the characteristics of these activity systems
will be discussed based on the two theories of organizational change that is, neo
institutional and resource dependency theories. The object of this thesis is to see how
these two activity systems go about doing the same activity, that is the integration of
ICTs, and how issues such as policy, globalization and the changing definition of
learning have impacted on the diffusion of ICTs in these institutions.

30 The Status of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe

It was the principal objective of this study to determine the status of ICT in Higher
Education in Zimbabwe by particularly looking closely at two institutions, the UZ and
NUST. The respondents were asked questions through face-to-face and telephone
interviews (see Interview Guide Appendix1). Responses varied on the general status
of ICT in Higher Education, but there was a general consensus that the status had
improved. One Ministry Informant # 1 had this to say,
It has improved over the last few years. You will find that if you visit our
polytechnics or teachers colleges, you look at institutions that now have no less than
60 PCs (e.g. Kwekwe Technical college in the Midlands), following a situation where
there used to be 4 or 5 PCs, and these being maybe 2 in the library, and 1or 2 in
principal’s office…. Even here at the Ministry, you find that where we used to write
each other memos, (of course we still do for certain things as we still believe that
people don’t check their mail as often as they should) but normally we try to use
email.

66
In line with the historicity aspect of neo-institutional theory, this assertion shows that
one has to understand the history of an institution in order to contextualize what is
going on. One of the ICT Implementers at NUST interviewed summarized the status
of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe as follows
There is a great shift towards the incorporation of ICTs in Universities although there is
always the problem of availability of resources for the acquisition of infrastructure like
computers. Almost every student does an introductory computer course, and then there
are more courses targeting those specializing in areas that use computers as an integral
part of their day-to-day operations. When you look at polytechnics, they have programs
for computer science, but have no introductory course for all students. Teacher training
colleges are incorporating ICT in the curriculum, but minimally. So far only Belvedere
teachers’ college does that, and it means that most teachers know nothing about ICTs.
There is also nothing at all in vocational training institutions. In most of these
institutions, computers are there, but they are used as deco (NUST ICT Implementer #
1).
What this means is that there has been more activity on ICT in the University sector
of HE, which is the focus of this study, than in other areas. However, it is important to
note that even though the Ministry might be aware of these activities, it has not
coordinated them, and neither have they been influenced by a central ICT policy, as
the country still does not have one. One of the UZ ICT Implementers had this view,
It would be very helpful for the ICT people and the different users to have the Ministry
of HE coordinating ICT initiatives, but the way these universities are run, it will be very
difficult to have an overseer on ICT issues. Some universities are saying lets make ICTs
in the university a priority while others are saying it’s not a priority because they have
such and such problems.

The present situation seems to be that different Universities have different foci on
ICT, and thus different approaches to the matter, and while the Ministry has supported
the different initiatives, it has not tried to be the forum where the different universities
can share ideas. The two universities that have been chosen both have an ICT focus,
and they have both incorporated ICTs into their institutional policies, albeit
differently. As a result, the status of ICT in the two universities is very different. A
case-by-case presentation of findings from these two institutions now follows.

67
31 The University of Zimbabwe

31.1 The UZ Strategic Plan

The UZ has an Information and Technology department 49 that develops, deploys and
supports comprehensive computer systems for the universal administrative needs of
the university. It provides support to the administration information systems with
software modules developed in house, and which include, registration, examinations,
accounting, facility management (e.g. Accommodation), finance administration,
human resources, and payroll. They also support email and Internet, the UZ network,
hardware maintenance and user training. The Department has seven members. In their
Five Year Strategic Plan for 2003 – 2007, the UZ has “emphasis on ICT competence”
as one of its seven strategic thrusts. The document says,
The implementation of the Campus Wide Computer Network Project presents an
opportunity for the UZ to take a distinctive lead in the area of producing graduates who
are competent in ICT (ibid :5).
It seems that the incorporation of ICTs in UZ policy has followed the Campus Wide
Computer Network Project, itself a largely donor-funded project, and thus projecting
an image of policy resulting from availability of infrastructure. The fact that the
project was donor funded to a large extent evokes a question on whether the project
was in fact donor- initiated. Efforts to find out more about the inception of the project
were fruitless as most of the informants questioned did not know much about it, and
those who knew, chose to give politically correct answers. One UZ ICT Implementer
interviewed on this said,
We are a state institution, and all the projects that we do are on behalf of the Ministry.
We cannot be autonomous because 95% of our funding comes from the Ministry. In
our computerisation at UZ we have had a number of different organisations and
agencies coming in to help, but UZ itself with money from the Ministry has actually
put up a very substantial amount of money and into the future as well (UZ ICT
Implementer #2).

Nonetheless, there are indications that this project could have been an initiative of
staff at the Computer Centre working very closely with the donors for the project.
That notwithstanding, the project has facilitated a focus on ICT for the institution.

49
http://www.uz.ac.zw/admini/itadmin/index.html#About accessed on 07/03/2005

68
Figure 5 shows a summary of parts of the UZ strategic plan that focus on ICT. It
shows the objectives and activities on ICT, the performance indicators, sources of
verification as well as enabling external conditions. It is interesting to note that on all
the objectives and activities that have to do with ICTs, the enabling external
conditions are stated as “partners continue to support the efforts of the UZ. This
clearly shows how much UZ is dependent on external resource relationships for its
ICT initiatives.
SYSTEMS-WARE MODEL THE UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE 5- PERIOD Page 1of 5Jan 2003
OF THE LOG FRAME YR PLAN 2003-2007
SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE INDICATORS SOURCES OF EXTERNAL
OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES (OBJECTIVELY VERIFIABLE VERIFICATION CONDITIONS
Enabling Conditions /Output 3: PIO 3-1: Masters and Doctorates make up at SVO3-1: Academic ECO3-1: Partners
Appropriate numbers of well least one quarter of the total number of registry and official continue to support
educated (in various graduates on an annual basis, by 2006 graduation records. the efforts of the UZ
disciplines), highly computer PIO 3-2: Every UZ graduate passes at least SVO3-2: Academic ECO3-2: Partners
literate, innovative and diligent one compulsory ICT course making them registry and official continue to support
graduates at various levels highly computer literate by 2006 graduation records. the efforts of the UZ
(certificates, diplomas, PIO 3-3 At least one major work reflecting SVO3-3: Patent ECO3-3: Partners
bachelor, masters and innovation and, or creative expression (e.g. Office, and (Book) continue to support
doctorate) who uphold the patent, book, Art, Software) is produced by Reviews the efforts of the UZ
value of integrity are produced students and, or staff per year from 2004. SVO3-4: Sports ECO3-4: Partners
(Human-ware) PIO 3-4 At least one current or former UZ Commission, continue to support
student represents the country in a medal Students Affairs, the efforts of the UZ
winning sports team in international and Alumni
competitions annually. Association
MAJOR ACTIVITIES (for PERFORMANCE INDICATORS / LEADER / EXTERNAL
delivering Outputs-3 MILESTONES INITIATOR CONDITIONS
AO3-1: Hold consultations PIAO3-1-1: Starting in Jan 2003, thereafter LAO3-1&2: ECAO3-1&2:None
with stakeholders on an on-going-bi-annual basis Registrar for the
(Government, Alumni, Co- PIAO3-1-2: Each faculty/Department has a UZ, Deans for their
operation Partners, Staff and functional industry or Community Advisory faculties &
Students) for inputs into Board by the end of Dec 2003 chairpersons for
teaching and learning practices their Departments
and course design to ensure that
the UZ programmes are clearly
needs oriented.
AO3-2: Incorporating PIAO3-2: By Dec 2005 LAO3-2: Pro-Vice ECAO3-2: Partners
Information and Chancellor continue to support
Communication Technology the efforts of the UZ
(ICT) components into all
programmes
AO3-3: Implement appropriate PIAO3-3-1: Starting in Jan 2003 and LAO3-3-1: Vice ECAO3-3: Partners
programmes on character thereafter on-going Chancellor continue to support
building for staff and students PIAO3-3-2: Every Student Union Leader & LAO3-3-2: Deans the efforts of the UZ
(Good leadership, Integrity, at least 15% of student body successfully go of Students
Fair Play, Decency, etc) to through Leadership Training
ensure that UZ members seminars/courses by 2005

69
develop into responsible
citizens who respect others &
have a positive attitude to life.
AO3-4: Introduce compulsory PIAO3-4: Starting in January 2003 and LAO3-4: Deans for ECAO3-4: Partners
industrial attachments for thereafter on-going their faculties & continue to support
undergraduate programmes to chairpersons for the efforts of the UZ
enhance the relevance of UZ their Departments
programmes to societal needs.
Source: Adapted from UZ 5-Year Strategic Plan 2003 – 2007:16 – 18)
While the UZ Strategic plan lays out the institution’s expectations on the adoption of
ICTs, it is not very comprehensive. The division of labour as outlined in activity
theory is not very well defined and gives the feeling that lecturers and students do not
have to do much. The plan does not go into the specific details of financing the
activity, and thus gives room to inaction as a result of lack of funds. Overall, the
adoption of ICTs is projected as one of the many activities being undertaken at the
university and its importance is not overemphasised. All these shortcomings in the
strategic plan contribute to the poor status of ICT at the institution.

31.2 The Campus Wide Network

The University Campus Wide Network project installed a computer network based on
communication via fiber optic technology on the main campus of the University of
Zimbabwe in 2001. It aimed at connecting all Faculties, Departments and Institutes
and extending to the Medical School, located about 8km off the main campus, via a
high-speed communication link. It also aimed at enhancing the information systems of
the Central Administration and to make the Central Library Information System a
service available on the network50. Every faculty was to have an access point to which
departments would connect. Computer laboratories with common software for
training were to be installed in faculties for staff members and students without
individual computers. Local Area Networks were to be installed in key departments
and key service areas of the university such as the Computer Centre, Computer
Science Department, Disabled Student services, Faculty of Engineering, and Faculty
of Commerce. The services were expected to result in the purposeful utilization of the
network for teaching, research, and administration 51. The project was funded by the
UZ and other international and donor agencies.

50
http://uzweb.uz.ac.zw/compcentre/campusnet/reports.html accessed on 07/03/2005
51
http://uzweb.uz.ac.zw/compcentre/campusnet/reports.html accessed on 07/03/2005

70
In a Campus Wide Report at July 2, 200352 the Director for Computer Science
reported that virtually all of the campus was now connected and that the project had
moved to a maintenance phase of the network. He reported that they were trying to
reach their “customers” with regards information on the general happenings of
Information and Communication Technology on campus through the following
methods53:
The UZ web pages particularly that of the Computer Center www.uz.ac.zw/compcentre
Computing Issues: A quarterly publication produced in both hard copy and soft copy
www.uz.ac.zw/compcentre/magazine

Computing Update: A bi-weekly update on the general happenings in IT. This is also in
hard copy and soft copy www.uz.ac.zw/compcentre/compupdate

Mailing lists have been created and can be created on request. All requests can be sent
to [email protected].

He also reported in the same issue that the computer center was offering a wide range
of computer courses; Student Course, Staff Courses and Outreach Courses including
Cisco Network Administration, LINUX Administration, PC Maintenance and Repair,
Visual BASIC, JAVA, Web Development, and Network Management and
Administration. Also according to this report, all faculties at the UZ now have
laboratories for access by students and all offices are now networked. This means that
the ability to connect to the network is thus there for all persons on the UZ campus.
Having established this very encouraging picture, it becomes imperative that the
status of ICT at the institution be assessed in terms of infrastructure, use and access.

31.3 Infrastructure
The question that begs to be asked in terms of infrastructure at UZ is what actually
does exist. According to a UZ Computer Science magazine accessed online, the
campus wide network backbone (connection of the all the buildings on campus and
enabling of communication between them) is now in place. The design
implementation, configuration and quality control of this backbone was done by local
UZ staff. According to the same publication, the following are now in place;
Department Access points - Each department has one or two access points to the
network. From these points members of a department can access their Email and the

52
http://uzweb.uz.ac.zw/compcentre/campusnet/reports.html accessed on 07/03/2005
53
http://uzweb.uz.ac.zw/compcentre/campusnet/reports.html accessed on 07/03/2005

71
 Internet. A number of departments including Computer Science, Crop Science, IMR,
Physics, Geography, RUP, CASS, IES, Commercial Law, and AILRI are now fully
networked and thus have access to the network in their offices. It is the hope of the
implementers that by the end of the 2004 financial year at least half of the departments
on campus will be on the network.
Department Laboratories- Laboratories have been installed in Computer Science,
Commerce and Computer Centre while others have been ordered for Student Services,
Computer Science, HRRC, Computer Centre, and the Library. A number of department
laboratories will be installed in the course of the year.
Communal Laboratories - There is an email laboratory in Computer Centre open to all
students. A staff laboratory at the Computer Centre is also available for Email and
Internet access. Yet another laboratory is available at the Computer Centre for training.
Both staff and students utilize this laboratory virtually on a daily basis. Another
laboratory, small one though, is available for postgraduate students’ access to the
Internet (Online Computer Center publication, July 2004).
One of the implementers questioned said that they had, a “Library (which) is fully
automated, (an) administration (which) is fully automated, a fully automated, Internet
and intranet with different departments using it at different levels” (UZ ICT
Implementer # 1). Another ICT implementer at the UZ who was interviewed gave this
picture concerning the infrastructure at the institution,

… the infrastructure is there and very usable because people are starting to do
meaningful things with it. Is there a lot still to be done? Yes because as an
institution you have to get to a point where access has to be widely available to
the end user, especially the student. The proportions at the moment are not to
our satisfaction, but we are getting there. The other issue is the actual material
the lecturers have to put on the web for the students. That is still very low (UZ
ICT Implementer # 2).

In spite of the reported infrastructure by the implementers of ICT at the UZ, the
lecturers paint a gloomier picture. One Medical School lecturer said that there were
only ten computers for all the students at the medical school, and that not all lecturers
had computers on their desk. She reported that in 1998, the UZ entered into an
agreement with the Spanish (she did not specify whether it was the Spanish
government, or just a Spanish organization) where the Spanish would provide
computers and other ICT equipment to the UZ medical school, and the Zimbabwean

72
government would pay over a period of time. She said that the sad thing about this
deal was that although some of the computers were being used, most were out of use.
This could be because of a lack of lack of funds to maintain them. Efforts to verify
this information yielded nothing, as the ICT implementers appeared to have no
knowledge of it.

A lecturer at the English Department who was interviewed about the infrastructure at
the UZ had this to say,
We have a situation of rich cousins and poor cousins. All the lecturers teaching in the
Media Department have computers on their desks, whereas in the English Department
where it is housed, not all lecturers have computers. This creates a lot of tension (UZ
Lecturer # 2).
The Media Department has computers thanks to a link between that section and the
University of Oslo’s institute of Media and Communication. The assertion by the
English Department Lecturer rightly summarizes the status of infrastructure
throughout the UZ. It provides a classic case of the digital divide within an institution,
among departments and among lecturers and students. Even one of the implementers
acknowledged this where he said,
We provide a service and we can only give so much number of PCs, and it is up
to the faculties to source others. It is the vision of the university to have ICTs,
but it is also the interpretation of that vision by the faculties that you see at play
(UZ ICT Implementer # 2).

Other departments with such links include the African Languages Research Institute,
which is linked by the African Languages Lexical (ALLEX) Project to the University
of Oslo, The Department of Computer Studies that receives resources from the
Belgians, the Medical School with Spanish connections and others whose connections
were not readily available.

It was also discovered that in most departments, the internet access point was only in
the departmental secretary’s office, and that lecturers could only check email when
the secretary was not very busy. As for doing research online, that was completely out
of the question. One lecturer interviewed said,
Those of us with Internet at home, can access there, but for those without, it is really
sad (UZ lecturer # 3).

73
According to most lecturers interviewed, there is only one Computer Lab, at the
Computer Science Department, and it is for both lecturers and graduate students. It
seemed that they were not aware of the other computer labs.

Overall, it was my assessment that there is ICT infrastructure at the UZ, but it is
characterized by three problems: the distribution, the publicity of the availability of
the infrastructure as well as the amount of infrastructure there is. It seems as if ICT
infrastructure is concentrated where the implementers are (in this case, the computer
science and computer centre) and also where there are links with international
institutes and organizations that in turn donate this infrastructure (e.g., departments
that enjoy donor support through links with other universities in the west). The UZ
five-year strategic plan for 2003 – 2007, does not say anything about the distribution
of infrastructure. There is need for an ICT strategic plan (like in the case of NUST)
which can address some of these issues.

The second problem that was noted was that of the publicity of the availability of ICT
infrastructure and its uses. It looked like many staff and students were not aware of
the infrastructure available in spite of the Computer Centre having a website, a
magazine (both hard and electronic copies). Maybe the information should be
cascaded through departments for it to be effective. It could also be that the lack of
skills or the limited ability to use ICTs makes staff and students reluctant to find out
about ICTs. In this case, efforts should be made to ensure that especially staff
members are trained in the use of ICTs. As stipulated by the neo institutional theory,
ICTs need to be made part of the teaching and learning culture of UZ before they can
be fully and effectively utilized.

Notwithstanding the other two problems stated, the extent of infrastructure at the UZ
is limited, especially when pitted against the number of users. Although it was
impossible to obtain information on the statistics like, for instance, the student
computer ratios, or staff computer ratios, it was easy to come to the conclusion that
the number of computers versus the students and staff was very low especially when
one considers that enrolment at the institution increases every year. In terms of
educational policy and the main issues of deployment of ICTs for teaching and
learning, this suggests that the institution is still a long way from the ultimate aim.

74
Uses of ICT
One of the categories for ICT status analysis chosen was the use of ICT in the two
institutions. UZ Implementer # 2 summed ICT use as follows,

With ICT it’s always a mixed bag. You get the real enthusiasts who are really using the
system, and then you get the real sceptics who are never going to use it. But that’s just a
reflection of the people we are actually dealing with.

ICT use can be accessed in three ways: interactive technology for teaching and
learning, delivery of educational resource, and for administration purposes. However,
it can also be assessed based on the users, that is, by students, by lecturers, and by
administrative staff. I will try to integrate both approaches in looking at the uses of
ICT at UZ.

31.3.1 Teaching and Learning

The use of ICTs for teaching and learning at UZ is minimal. This is partly because of
the infrastructure as discussed above, and partly because of the limited ability in using
them by both students and lecturers. The UZ five-year strategic plan for 2003 – 2007
acknowledges the limitations in the use of ICTs by both lecturers and students where
it reports that
…every student who goes through the UZ is to pass at least one compulsory course in
Information and Communication Technology, irrespective of the discipline being
studied (and that) … all staff will be trained in ICT to ensure that they effectively work
with the various computerized systems being introduced in the UZ. (UZ: 5)
One lecturer at the Computer Science Department had this to say,
Here we are actually implementing an e-learning platform but you find that even in
the computer science department, it can be difficult to find someone using that
platform. They have their reasons. The success of the implementation of such systems
does not fall on one particular group quite a number of people have to be involved,
that is the developers and the designers of the system themselves and the users of the
system have to be seen to be taking part as well. The implementation of an e-learning
platform at UZ has been successful in as far as the actual platform is now in place,
but in terms of actual usage, I have not seen many people coming to use it. Maybe it’s
because of the publicity; the system has not been adequately publicized. A lot of
people are not aware and some do not have the necessary skills to use the system to
such an extent that thinking of using it to teach their own lectures becomes a problem
(UZ Lecturer # 1)

75
Most lecturers that were interviewed did not know about the e-learning platform at
UZ.

UZ ICT Implementer # 2 reported that they were already in the process of

implementing the strategic plan. He said,
As part of the strategic vision, which we are actually implementing, we have a
requirement that each faculty should have at least two courses for the students during
the duration of their schooling. But while other faculties have already implemented this
requirement, others have not moved as fast, and what we have done in the meantime is
that we have been offering an ad hoc course on their own volition. Starting this
semester, every student is going to have that course during orientation.

Hopefully when the lecturers and students feel more comfortable using ICTs, then a
more positive attitude towards them can be seen. Unfortunately, there is no outline for
a specific course of action or time frame to achieve this on the part of lecturers.

A final year Geology student had this to say when asked about the use of ICTs for
teaching and learning,
We only get to see technology in use when there is a visiting lecturer (there was one
this year from University of Natal) and when we have presentations from corporate
staff (UZ Geology Student).

Email is a feature that is used a lot at the UZ; however, it is used mainly for private
communication among lecturers, among students and among administrative staff
members. It is seldom used for academic communications between students and
lecturers, and neither is it used much for work related communication among the staff.
The Geology student also said,
We use mostly email for communicating with our friends, but not with lecturers. We
have never been assigned university email addresses, so we use yahoo, hotmail and
others (UZ Geology Student).
On ICT uses by lecturers, one of the implementers interviewed said,
I would say it’s a bandwagon, and academics are academics. Some of them will jump
on, and others will be more sceptical, but we have a good enough number of lecturers
using the system to reflect on its positive aspects (UZ, ICT Implementer # 2).

Yet another implementer echoed the same sentiment. He said

76
 There is always that element of resistance by the users in the implementation of any
other new system. Some might not be interested in the new system, thereby resulting in
this resistance and then again some might not be even aware of the existence of the new
system (UZ ICT Implementer # 1).

What one can deduce from this scenario is the fact that the use of ICT for teaching
and learning at the UZ is so minimal that it is almost non-existent. Considerable work
needs to be done in encouraging the use of ICTs by lectures if UZ is going to achieve
one of its plans to produce “appropriate numbers of well educated, highly computer
literate, innovative and diligent graduates at various levels who uphold the value of
integrity” (UZ Five Year Strategic Plan (2003 – 2007:10). A more comprehensive
ICT policy can help in this respect, as it will map out a plan on how to increase ICT
use.

31.3.2 Administration

Administration systems are a key component in ICT policy making and

implementation. ICTs are helping library professionals store and manage academic
information. Libraries have migrated from the traditional Dewey cataloguing system
to an on-line system, which is a web-based cataloguing and search application. No
administration no ICTs in the classroom. All the administration functions at UZ have
been computerized, and there are systems in place for records, payroll and other
administration functions. However, in some cases, for instance, student records, staff
prefers to do some functions manually. One administration staff member interviewed
said that the system was unreliable at times, and that it was easier to do things
manually. The UZ library has an interlibrary system, Libsys, where lecturers and
students can search for, and order books from different libraries in the country,
including some libraries in South Africa. Sadly, this system is no longer used as much
as it used to be, since lecturers and students now have to pay for the books or articles
that they order, and this is very expensive.

The UZ library also used to subscribe to many journals, and has one of the biggest
journal sections in the country. However, this section is now underutilized, as
subscription to journals has been limited. This is a direct result of the economic
situation in the country which has forced the government to reduce funding on HE

77
and which has forced the institution to cut its costs. One Occupational Therapy
lecturer at the Medical School had this to say,
Now students in my department rely on me. I am a member of the British Association
of Occupational Therapists and I pay my subscriptions every year. I receive two
journals every month, and after I read them, I put them in our departmental library for
students to access (UZ Lecturer # 3).
As a result of the potential expenses incurred when one uses the interlibrary system as
well as the fact that the library no longer subscribes to many journals, students are no
longer capable of performing as well as they are supposed to. Another lecturer also
supported this claim when she said,
There are even problems when marking students’ projects and assignments because
there is mercy allocation of grades as some lecturers feel that there is nothing the
students can do under these circumstances (UZ Lecturer # 5)
Other lecturers indicated that there is so much competition for the little information
sources available that some students resort to tearing off pages from journals or books
that they borrow.

31.4 Access
Although there is ICT infrastructure at UZ, there still remains the problem of access
by end users, be it because of their limited knowledge of the availability of this
infrastructure, their limited ability to use it, or the ratios of the infrastructure to the
users that have to avail it. A geology final year student who was interviewed said that
there were only four computers in the Geology computer lab, and that it was very
difficult to access. This seems to be the general trend in most departments. One
lecturer confirmed it when he said,

The shortage of resources contributes to the low usage. Some students might be willing
to access, but they might not have the time to use it given their timetabling and the
number of the computers (UZ Computer Science Lecturer).

The issue of connectivity further compounds the problem of access, as issues of

bandwidth came out as well. UZ Implementer # 2 had this to say;
Our biggest problem here at UZ is our bandwidth, because locally we have very well
developed LAN and WAN systems, which are as good as any institution, but if you
look at the E-journals that we have subscribed to, we cannot really have access because
of the bandwidth.

78
Another problem limiting access that was mentioned was funding, and this is
highlighted as follows:

The major challenge really concerns funding because ICT is not a once off thing. It’s
something that needs a recurring budget maintaining and sometimes replacing
infrastructure, Adding new infrastructure because there will always be a need for
something new. So I think the real challenge is to have a sustainable budget for the ICT.
But in addition also, people educating the policy makers to actually take ICT as a
priority (UZ ICT Implementer # 1.

When one looks at the status of ICT at the UZ, there are a couple of issues that come
out. In as much as the infrastructure is there, it is nonetheless not sufficient and
distributed unevenly throughout the institution. In addition to insufficient
infrastructure, there is minimal usage of this infrastructure by lectures, students and
administrative staff either because of lack of knowledge of the existence of such
infrastructure, reluctance to use the infrastructure or lack of access to the
infrastructure. Access is further made complicated by insufficient bandwidth. What is
perhaps the underlying problem at the institution is funding for obtaining and
maintaining ICTs. There seems to be no real plan in place for the financing of ICT
initiatives at the institution. There is no mention of ICT logistics in the Strategic plan,
for instance, exactly how infrastructure will be financed or allocated. Thus ICT
initiatives at UZ, although they are taking place and are supported by policy as
outlined in the UZ Five-Year Strategic plan 2003 – 2007, they fall short of what they
could have been, had there been a more comprehensive policy in place to support
them.

32 The National University of Science and Technology

According to the NUST Strategic Development Plan for ICTs 2003 – 2005: 1, NUST
recognizes ICTs as essential for the running of the university;
They can enhance effective teaching and learning, they can improve delivery of
research products for both academic and economic development of the nation and

79
 they can provide easier access to international scholarship, which is critical in this age
of globalization.
The institution recognizes that ICT is the fastest growing sector in all social,
economic and development issues and that it has become pervasive throughout all
human activities, the digital divide notwithstanding.54

In 2002, NUST consisted of four faculties (Applied Sciences, Architecture and

Quality Surveying, Commerce and Industrial Technology) and a total of twenty-seven
departments. Student enrollment was 2850 undergraduates and 300 postgraduates
whilst staff stood at 120 academic and 380administrative and support staff. 55 NUST
has an internal network that links all buildings to the central backbone and has
Internet links with a bandwidth of 1MB.

32.1 The NUST Strategic Development Plan

The purpose of the Strategic plan at NUST is reported as being “to create an academic
environment that encourages application of ICT systematically and innovatively in
teaching and learning, research, community service, administration and
management”56. An analysis of NUST strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats
(SCOT) with relation to ICT undertaken before the plan was put in place and using
focus group interviews revealed that NUST’s major strength lay in the positive
perception which its all members have of ICTS and their potential to improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of the institution in achieving its mission. Its major
challenges were identified as the lack of a strategic plan and policies to facilitate
coordination of acquiring, development, maintenance and distribution of required and
available ICT resources as well as insufficient funding for ICT infrastructure
development and related activities such as training, maintenance, attraction and
retention of skilled ICT personnel57.

The key thrusts58 of the Strategic plan were identified as follows;

54
NUST Strategic Development plan 2003 – 2005: 2
55
NUST Strategic Development plan 2003 – 2005: 2

56
NUST Strategic Development Plan 2003 – 2005:6
57
NUST Strategic Development Plan 2003 – 2005:6
58
NUST Strategic Development Plan 2003 – 2005:6

80
  Academic: Improve and develop innovative ways of teaching and learning and
student assessment based on ICT
 Management: Enhance administrative effectiveness through use of integrated and
computerized management systems
 Infrastructure: Implement and maintain reliable and fast campus networks and links
to Internet (NUST ICT Strategic Plan 2003 - 2005)

The implementation of the strategic plan is based on a Logical Framework Matrix

(NUST ICT Strategic Plan) which requires verifiable indicators, that is, means of
verifying the extent to which the activity has been achieved, the person responsible
for the key action and time frame within which the action is to be done. Figure 6
shows a summary table for the first key thrust, while figure 7 shows the logical
framework summary for NUST ICT Strategic Plan.
Figure 6: Summary Table for Key Thrust One (Academic): Improve and develop
innovative ways of teaching and learning and student assessment based on ICT
Key Action Person(s) Performance Target Time
responsible monitoring frame
Create and put learning Academic staff Percentage of academics 30% of academics put course 36 months
And research material Librarian with material on the web material on the web
on the web Faculty Deans
PVC Number of learning 10% of academics introduce
library resources innovative approaches to teaching
available on the web and learning in their courses
Make effective access ICTs Director Student access to Increase access by 50% 12 months
to and use of ICT to Librarian computer facilities
students Faculty Deans Annually
PVC Development of computer All students trained in ICT skills
skills in students
A platform for delivery ICTs Director Development of 10 urban and 5 rural schools linked 36 months
of life long learning CCE Director electronic links to civil
courses to civil society Librarian society
PVC Number of courses based 10 courses delivered 36 months
on ICT offered to civil
society

Figure 7: Framework for the NUST ICT Strategic Plan

Performance Monitoring Performance Indicator Data Source (Source Collection Frequency Responsibility
(objectively verifiable) means of verification Methods
Impact: Number of NUST Course outlines Annual Annually Vice Chancellor
To produce human resources graduates with strong NUST Annual submissions 6 months Pro-Vice
adequate for Zimbabwe’s social, computer literacy reports by semesterly Chancellor
scientific and technological skills increase by 50% departments Deans
needs by 2005 and faculties Chairpersons
Registrar
Deans
OUTCOMES Use of ICT in Nust Annual Annually Vice Chancellor
To create an academic University functions reports Quarterly Pro-Vice
environment at NUST that increased by 70% by NUST boards & Monthly Chancellor

81
 encourages application of ICT December 2005 committees Monthly Deans
systematically and innovatively minutes Registrar
in teaching and learning, NUST website Deans
research, community service,
administration and management
Outputs NUST website Checking Annually Pro-Vice
1. Learning material 1.1 30%of academics Course Outlines Website Semesterl Chancellor
published on the web put course materials Departmental submissions y Deans
Increased use of ICT by on the web and by Monthly Chairpersons
2. Academics in research and 2.1 Five computers Faculty Planning departments
academic activities. dedicated to special board minutes
3. Increased use of Web research
for academic purposes by 3.1 All new students Library records
students trained every year for
4. Innovative the next three years. Departmental
approaches to teaching, 70% of the Annual reports Semesterl Librarian
learning and assessment undergraduates access Students’ course y Lecturers
that utilize ICT are electronic journals by evaluation forms
developed. 2005 Individual Annually
5. Delivery of 4.1 10% of academics academic staff Deans
continuing education introduce innovative annual reports End of Chairpersons
courses to outside approaches to teaching ICTs Director’s Course Chairpersons
community and learning in their reports Annually
courses annually Senate Computer
5.1 10 courses Committee Deans
delivered to the minutes Quarterly PVC
community through Senate
ICT by 2005 Computer
5.2 NUST network Committee
linked to five rural
schools by 2005

NUST ICT Strategic Plan 2003 – 2005:

The NUST ICT Strategic plan seems much more comprehensive than the plan for UZ,
as it is a plan that is dedicated solely to ICT. What is particularly important in the
NUST plan is the inclusion of a time frame for the implementation of targets as well
as the frequency with which target outcomes are checked. This is important as it helps
everyone to focus on the target in view of the deadlines. The NUST plan gives a very
promising picture on the status of ICT at the institution, but the question on what
infrastructure there is remains.

32.2 Infrastructure
As already discussed, the ICT infrastructure is there at NUST, and is being used
relatively effectively with the help of a comprehensive ICT policy. Both lectures and
students are a lot more positive about the infrastructure at the institution. All of the
informants interviewed seemed to concur the views of a final year Computer Science
student interviewed who said,
I think it’s fairly good and they are improving it. Right now it’s better than it was a year
ago or the year before that. They are really working on it (NUST Computer Science
Student).

82
She reported that the computers are limited, considering the fact that student
enrollment increases every year, but she also said that they were enough. Each faculty
has a computer lab and in the computer science department itself, there are labs for
each level of students from one to four except for the third years who will be on
industrial attachment. There is also a lab for the masters’ students.

32.3 Uses of ICT

ICTs are used widely at NUST in comparison with the UZ. This is because they have
been made an intrinsic part of the academic culture at the institution. The
comprehensive policy on ICT pays particular attention to logistics such as the
percentages of course outlines on the NUST Website. In my view, this puts pressure
on lecturers to deliver. The library has a computerized cataloguing system, which
allows people to search for books but it is not online, hence it can only be accessed
through computers at the library. NUST does not have an interlibrary library system
and its administrative systems are still manual, as the software engineers at NUST are
still developing software for these functions. The university currently has small
systems that mainly support the University Bursary with their financial systems59.
These systems need to be upgraded and integrated with the rest of the university
systems. Thus the development of an Integrated Management Information System is a
priority in this area and it is catered for by their key thrust 2 which states that the
institution needs to,
Enhance administrative effectiveness through use of integrated and computerized
management systems (NUST Strategic Development Plan for ICT 2003 – 2005:8)
According to the strategic plan, this has a timeframe for completion by December
2004,

32.3.1 Teaching and Learning

Every student after being enrolled at NUST is assigned an email address to encourage
communication between students and between students and lecturers. There is a lot of
communication between students and lecturers on academic issues. One student said
They usually send us assignment questions and notes via email and you can send your
assignment via email as well (NUST Computer Science Student).
One of the lecturers interviewed said,

59
http://www.nust.ac.zw/services/icts/ICTSServices.htm

83
 I do not recall any one lecturer without a computer. We have an intra network with
different user mailing groups; academic, administration, technicians and we have a
facility for students email. Lecturers prepare their lectures on computers. We also have
the departmental laptop, which is used for PowerPoint presentations. We give
assignments through the network and students can save assignments in a lecturer’s
folder through the Internet. We accept the assignments in both forms (NUST Lecturer #
1).

In spite of the fact that there is considerable use of ICTs by lecturers at NUST, there
remains the fact that there is very little academic publishing of material on the internet
from the institute. One of the implementers at NUST had this comment
Of late, NUST has been trying to do it (putting papers on the internet). People are only
beginning to realize now that they should put them on the Internet. The other thing also
is that locally there have been very few conferences, which normally facilitate the
publishing of papers. But also Zimbabweans generally lack the paper-writing culture
(NUST ICT Implementer # 2).
A good example of how NUST is trying to move forward in publishing information
on the Internet is through a publication known as Research at NUST.

32.3.2 Research at NUST

Research at NUST60 is an annual publication at the institution, giving an account of

research publications by academic staff. The publication started in 1999 with the
publication of Volume 1 covering publications since the inception of the university in
1990. To date, two more publications have been made, Volume 2 in 2000, and
Volume 3 in 2001. These publications give an account of researches in progress at the
institution, books published, papers published in Journals and books, papers published
in conferences, papers presented but not published as well as new papers accepted for
publication. The publication also gives general information about research initiatives
at the institution.

Although none of the papers that are listed in the different volumes of Research at
NUST can be accessed on the Internet, the listing itself is important as it gives a
picture of how the institution is fairing in the area of research. However, it would do
the institution a lot more good to have these publications accessible to an even wider
readership audience through the Internet.
60
All information on Research at NUST was accessed at http://www.nust.ac.zw/research/ResearchPub.htm on 23/04/2005

84
NUST has also devised a way of using ICTs to make money for reinvestment in ICT
infrastructure. This is done through a consultancy service established to assist
industrial clients, Comp Consult.

32.3.3 Comp Consult

Comp Consult is a consultancy service that is offered under the Computer Science
Department of NUST61. It assists organizations in the industry to make effective use
of ICTs by offering a wide range of IT solutions, at the same time making money for
the university. Its services include the following:
General consultancy services: This includes giving advice on IT strategy to
businesses as well as assistance in the selection of hardware and software.
Software development: Producing various types of custom software including
specialized software to meet customer needs. It also helps clients to identify how
customization of Office applications can assist their business and how to apply it
expertly and consistently. Training of staff for support and maintenance is also done.
Web design and Web Databases: This includes content management and graphic
design on web development.
Network Design, Installation and Management: This includes Local Area Networks
(LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN) as well as access to intranet and Internet.

What is perhaps most interesting about Comp Consult at NUST is that it is an

initiative geared at raising funds for the continuation of overall ICT initiatives at the
university. It is interesting to see how departments, realizing the limitations of funding
in the achievement of the institute’s ICT vision, have taken an initiative to help fund
ICT development at the institute.

Access
Although the computers are sufficient in numbers, they still need to be increased as
the enrollments increase as well. There are three stakeholders in the use of ICT at the
university; students, academic and administrative staff, and access to ICT is varied
among them. Students have access through five communal computer laboratories
each with a capacity of holding up to sixty computers and all students have been

61
All information on Comp Consult was accessed from http://www.nust.ac.zw/departments/compconsult/services.htm on
23/04/2005

85
assigned email addresses. Academic staff has comparatively better access as a
strategic decision made in 2000 ensured the provision of a computer to each professor
and associate professor. Unfortunately, the scheme ran out of funds before it reached
senior lecturers and lecturers. However, staff departmental laboratories with two or
more computers were established. All senior administrative staff has computers, but
most non-academic staff except for secretarial staff has no ready access. In a nutshell
therefore,
NUST has the basic infrastructure for ICT use in the core activities of the institution,
but there is need to improve access through, among other things, increasing the
quantities of hardware and times of allowing access by students (NUST Strategic
Development Plan for ICT 2003 – 2005: 3).
The students use the Internet as a resource for their assignments and projects, but
sometimes there are issues of connectivity. One student interviewed said,
The Internet has its moments. We are using a leased line, and the problem with a leased
line is that when the number of people logged on increases, it becomes very slow as it
uses one channel for all the connections (NUST Computer Science Student).
Telecommunications thus affect connectivity at NUST, which in turn affects access to
ICTs. Bandwidth is also a problem at the institution as it is only 1MB.

Nonetheless, drawing from the experiences at NUST, it can be seen that a

comprehensive ICT policy can ensure better diffusion of ICTs at an institution. It
spells out the plan in as far as logistics of adopting ICTs are concerned, and thus it has
been aptly named as a “Strategic plan.” It clearly shows the division of labor in the
activity of adopting ICTs as well as accountability levels and time frames, which puts
pressure on everyone involved. It also highlights budgets and as such gets people to
get into the issue of how the diffusion is funded.

32.4 Models from findings

The diagrams below are an attempt at presenting the findings from the two institutions
as adaptations from the previously stated models.

86
 International resource
relationships

ICT Policies
And resources
Figure 8 Activity Theory Framework presentation
Political Climate Globalizationof
as afindings
in the country phenomenon affecting the
The diagram
alsoshows the relationships in an
affecting the activity system like NUST or UZ. It shows
process
process
that the status of ICT at an institution is the outcome of many of issues, including ICT
Status of ICT
policy, globalization and international resource relationships, institutional
which is lowculture,
at the
Institutions UZ and average
people inLike
theUZinstitutions,
& the roles that people take in an activity and the political
at NUST
NUST Integration of
ICTs
climate within which the activity is undertaken. Besides the statusUnintended
of ICT, which is
outcomes
the intended outcome of the activity, there are also unintended outcomes. These have
digital divide
brain drain
come out as the departmental digital divide as well as brain drain when members
acquire ICT knowledge and become attractive to competition.
Allocation of roles between actors
Institutional Institutional Community like administrators, policy makers
Culture including lecturers & students

87
 Unintended outcomes e.g., brain
Figure 9 Adaptation of Petrides’drain
(2000)
andmodel
the departmental digital
divide
An adaptation of Petrides’ model shows how far the two institutions have moved in
the integration of ICTs. UZ is still somewhere between the planning and management
process, and the early stages of making an impact on people and culture. ICTs have
not yet been fully internalized in institutional culture, and thus use is very minimal.
NUST has gone a little further howeverTransformation
it has not yet realized meaningful use of ICTs
for teaching and learning. The two arrows are independent of each other, showing that
Adaptations
there was no evidence of the two institutions working together. This might be because
ICTs for teaching and onTeaching
learning,
they research
compete and
against each other forand
theLearning
best students and lecturers. The two dotted
administration
arrows coming out at the top completes a representation of the dialectic
ICTs fornature of the
teaching
and learning,
process of integrating ICTs. Impact on People research and
and Culture in the administration
NUST institutions UZ

Planning and
Management
process 88
Conclusion
The findings presented in this chapter point to a number of key issues. These include,
a realization of the importance of ICTs as shown in the strategic plans, the importance
of resources and non reliance on government funding on ICTs, telecommunication
problems, political climate, unintended outcomes of the adoption of ICTs like the
departmental “digital divide” as well as the importance of policy in the adoption of
ICTs.

It can be said that while the two institutions chosen for this study have different
emphases on ICTs judging from their policies as outlined in their strategic plans, they
nonetheless share common problems in their endeavors to adopt ICTs, albeit on
different scales. They both share the problems of insufficient infrastructure, limited
use, limited bandwidth and limited funding. Although the difference in the scale of
these problems at the institutions can be attributed to the nature of the institutions
themselves (one being technically oriented and the other being more all-
encompassing), it can also be a result of the emphasis on ICT as stipulated in their
strategic plans. The fact that these problems persist even where there is a
comprehensive policy on ICT points to the fact that institutional policies are not
sufficient in the integration of ICTs. There is a real need for a country ICT policy,
which can support institutional policies and cater for those issues that are beyond the
scope of institutional policies. A more detailed discussion of the issues coming out of
the findings as well as some recommendations now follows.

89
6 Chapter 6 Discussion, Recommendation & Conclusion

33 Introduction
Since the inception of the World Wide Web took earlier ICTs and learning policies
into a wider pubic domain of distributed communication, Educational Policy research
has paid attention to how ICTs can be deployed to enhance teaching and learning.
Research to date has argued that ICTs have the potential to enhance the efficiency and
effectiveness of education systems (James, 2001). In terms of ICTs and 'developing'
country contexts, much has been written about how opportunities offered by the
emerging information revolution could enable African countries to circumvent the
classical development path and transform their economies into predominantly
information and knowledge-based economies (Dzidonu, 2002). Much has been
written on the importance of ICT policies in the African context, for example James
(2001), Dzidonu (2002), Khalil-Timamy (2002), but there has not been much effort in
Zimbabwe to draw from this literature to bring policy issues into the integration of
ICTs. Zimbabwe is an interesting case to study in that while almost all the other
countries in the region are rushing to put in place mechanisms that allow for the easier
adoption of ICTs, the country has taken its time in doing so. At the same time,
initiatives in the education sector on ICTs are evident, but they are constrained by a
lack of country policy. This study has tried to draw from literature to bring policy
issues into the ICT discussion.

This chapter therefore attempts to discuss the issues that came out of the findings as
well as make recommendations for future studies. It will attempt to wrap up the study
by trying to conclusively answer the two questions at the beginning. It was the
objective of this study to find out the status of ICT in higher education in Zimbabwe
with respect to teaching and learning, educational resource and administration, as well
as to find out the extent to which policy issues implicate this status. To do this, two
institutions, the UZ and NUST were chosen and they were examined in terms of
policies on ICT, infrastructure, use of ICT and access. Informants were interviewed
face-to-face in the case of UZ, and telephonically in the case of NUST, on these
issues. Further interviews were conducted with people from the Ministry of Higher

90
Education under which the two institutions fall for a more general view of the status
of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe as well as the policy situation.

34 Issues Arising
The findings of this study indicate that the adoption of ICTs at NUST has been
proceeding faster than at UZ even though they are both state institutions. While this
might be because NUST is a science and technology institution whereas UZ is a more
general institution, it can also be attributed to their policies on ICT. The fact that
NUST has a more comprehensive policy on ICT ensures that more attention is given
to it and thus making adoption faster than at the UZ where the policy on ICT is more
laissez-faire. However, this attribution is made with the knowledge that policies have
limitations that might result in their failure to be implemented.

34.1 The Importance of ICTs

The policies in the two institutions that have been looked at in this study show that
policy-makers in the institutions have understood the importance of ICTs. They show
that officials in the two institutions see technology as a key issue for the success of
their institutions, whether it is used for teaching and learning, in research or in
supporting the work of administrators. The policies themselves have spelt out (with
great emphasis on the part of NUST and with relatively less emphasis on the part of
UZ), this importance to all the members of the institution who are privy to the policy
documents, who have in turn cascaded this importance to the members of their
faculties and departments. While it is not clear at UZ, in the case of NUST, the policy
making process was made participatory, thereby ensuring that the views and interests
of all the actors were taken into account. It is therefore safe to conclude that a
considerable majority of the members of the two institutions have an idea as to the
importance of ICTs in HE. This is even more so at NUST where ICTs have been
entrenched into the system through a participatory initiated comprehensive ICT
policy.

34.2 Organisational Characteristic Constraints

The adoption of ICTs in any organisation entails changing it, which is why theories of
organisational change were employed in this study. According to Weiss (1998),
changing organisational practice requires resources (which are often limited), requires

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management effort and time, requires changing the accustomed practices and habits of
staff who are satisfied with the status quo, and sometimes where new skills are
required, retraining old staff. All these things are evident in the two institutions being
looked at in their endeavour to adopt ICTs. One factor that has been affirmed in this
study is the fact that organisations are complex social systems. They have “built up
pattern(s) of behaviours and system(s) of motivation and reward for compliance with
existing roles” (Weiss, 1998:310) and when faced with a technological innovation
such as the diffusion of ICTs, “they are often uncertain that the innovation represents
a superior alternative to the previous practice it would replace” or complement
(Rodgers, 2003:14). The fact that both institutions have incorporated ICTs as part of
their strategic plans means that they have recognised the benefits that they bring to
their institutions. Still the actual adoption of ICTs within the institutions happens over
time.

Organisations have concerns other than achieving their own goals (Weiss, 1998:310),
as they are interested in survival. Resource dependency theory can be used to explain
how an institution like the UZ has not managed to fully avail infrastructure that can be
accessible to everyone in the institution. This is because the institution relies largely
on the government for it’s funding, as well as on donors for a lot of its projects. An
institution like NUST on the other hand has realised that in the case of ICTs, it cannot
depend entirely on the state for resources and has thus found innovative ways of fund-
raising for its ICT initiatives. This is also a typically resource dependency theory
response.

Organisations also tend to believe in certain sets of values and in particular methods
of work as there remains a lot of sceptics within the institutions. A comprehensive
ICT policy resulting from exclusive participation by all actors, such as the one at
NUST helps a lot in the faster adoption of ICTs as it helps convince some of the
sceptics that the institution is serious about its course of action. It is also a way of
making the ICT agenda a part of institutional culture by formalising them; an aspect
recommended by both neo institutional and activity theories. A more relaxed ICT
policy like the one at UZ might not yield the same results due to its laissez-faire
nature. On the other hand, it might simply be a reflection of a situation where a policy
is not implemented.

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34.3 Telecommunications
Telecommunications plays an important part in the diffusion of ICTs, as it is its
infrastructure that is the medium through which most ICTs are delivered. It is also
crucial in that its regulation affects ICTs. Yet the policies at both institutions do not
say anything about this issue. This is because it is something beyond the scope of
institutional policies, something that would be catered for by a National ICT policy.
The only time telecommunications is mentioned is with reference to connectivity and
bandwidth problems.

Telecommunications is an area that is strictly regulated by the government in

Zimbabwe, and the advent of new communication technologies and the current
political climate has led to a need to further tighten control. According to Mazango
(2001:2), technological changes are introducing “a multiplicity of transmission modes
that challenge the dominant structure of state monopoly. National regulations that are
particular to a single country like Zimbabwe are increasingly seen as becoming
gradually inappropriate because new technologies and services like satellite
broadcasting or the Internet, in many respects make national borders more porous and
services more global (ibid). However, it should be borne in mind that the
telecommunications sector has always been organized and controlled as a state
monopoly in Zimbabwe. A number of arguments have been put forward for this, but
the most important seems to be national security justifying the control of
telecommunications as a strategic industry.

Three pieces of legislation have regulated telecommunications in Zimbabwe for

almost thirty years on the basis of a PTC monopoly. 62 According to Mazango
(2001:5), these legislations did three things; they organized the operation of
telecommunication as a public corporation, gave the corporation a sole monopoly to
operate and to regulate telecommunication services and gave the corporation a
monopoly to allocate and regulate frequencies63. After independence in 1980, the
62
The Postal and Telecommunications Act (Chapter 12:02) of 1973, Postal and Telecommunications Corporation Act (Chapter
12:03) of the same year, and the Radiocommunication Services Act (Chapter 12:04) also of 1973 (Mazango, 2001).
63
The Postal Telecommunications Corporation Act of 1973 conferred privileges to the PTC in connection with postal and
telecommunication services, and perhaps the most controversial clause in this statute has been section 26(1), which reads,
… The Corporation shall have the exclusive privilege of establishing, maintaining and working telecommunication services in,
into and from Zimbabwe (PTC Act 1973, cited in Mazango, 2001:6)
Through powers granted by this clause, the PTC came to solely own and control the backbone of the telecommunication service,
the public switched network. Other sections of this Act also give PTC the privilege (if so directed by the President) to temper
with the communications that it controlled. Subsection (7b) of section 24 of the PTC Act reads,

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monopoly status of PTC was upheld and the Corporation protected from competition
and today, Tel One (a parastatal run by the government) monopolizes the information
gateway in Zimbabwe. The government has since opened up for competition by
licensing one fixed network provider, Tele Access, which for all intents and purposes
is dead. This is another way of controlling information flow by the government.

What all this means is that all Internet Service Providers are licensed and regulated by
one company, and even though connectivity is poor, there is nowhere to turn, as there
is no competition. Furthermore, in a situation where there is political tension in the
country (which is the situation at the time of writing this thesis), the government can
use PTC monopoly to monitor communication into, within and from the country. This
has serious implications on HE institutions in the country, particularly state
universities, which are directly controlled by the state, and this has snowballed into
affecting the politics of policy-making itself. According to James (2001), the
sustainable use of ICTs in education is inextricably linked to dramatically reducing
the high cost of telecommunications, which is a primary barrier to the deployment of
ICTs. The most important national policy to adopt in this area is to accelerate the
introduction of full competition in the telecommunication sector, which can drive
prices down and improve the deployment of infrastructure. James (2001) sites
examples of a number of developing countries that have realized that open
competition is the best strategy e.g., Brazil and Senegal which both opened up their
telecommunication sectors to full competition in 2002, as well as India.

Political climate
Politics affects the status of ICT in HE in two ways; the diffusion of ICTs in itself is
“an exercise of politics, deriving its political overtones from the fact that it is carried
out in a political (arena), maintained by political forces through political processes,
and the fact that the people who make decisions about the diffusion are embedded in
politics” (Weiss, 1998:312). Secondly, the overall political climate in the country has
had a profound effect on the status of ICT in HE. The lack of an ICT policy in
Zimbabwe might be a deliberate government policy of “no policy is good policy”
because they do not really want to open up information spaces because of the political

… Any communication or class of communications transmitted by means of a telecommunications service shall be intercepted or
monitored in a manner specified in the direction (1973, cited in Mazango, 2001:7)
In return for its privileges, PTC was obliged to provide universal telecommunication services to the whole population.

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implication. However there is no outright suppression of ICTs like in countries like
China but just a tactic of leaving it to private firms to offer services to private
individuals (only a few who can afford). These contradictions can best be illustrated
by Zimbabwean Mugabe’s statement on the dangers of ICTs. He said,
The phenomenon that is now widely referred to as globalization has turned our world
into a fierce jungle, where smaller nations are continuously bullied to surrender their
sovereignty and resources by some greedy nations. At the same time, the world has
grown fiercely competitive, as technological advancement has become synonymous
with economic development. As a nation, we therefore need to be wary of these
developments, and prepare our young men and women to face these global challenges if
they are to jealously guard our resources for the benefit of our people. (Zimbabwe’s
President R. G. Mugabe in The Sunday Mail 28/11/2004)64
This shows that the government is skeptical of ICT development yet they also want to
see the growth of ICTs as a driver of economic progress.

The political climate in Zimbabwe today is a big hindrance to the development of

ICTs in the country as evidenced by the pulling out of donors abandoning projects, as
well as systematic isolation of Zimbabwe both regionally and internationally.
Government has responded to a lot of issues by tightening its control and this is
particularly evident in the communication laws that it has passed which will be
discussed later. Just like in the case of telecommunications discussed earlier, it looks
like Government policy stance is that ICT is a strategic area, which should not be left
to market forces, as this would challenge the power of the state, hence it is something
that needs to be controlled. At the same time, government does not have enough
money to fund ICT initiatives and these initiatives especially in institutions like the
UZ and NUST have been left to donors and other international agencies. With the
current political climate, which is decidedly hostile to foreigners, donors and
international agencies that might have helped fund ICT initiatives have left the
country, leaving a gap in the adoption of ICTs.

34.3.1 Climate of regulation and control

The political climate in the country has led to a climate of regulation and control,
which in turn is something that has a negative effect on the diffusion of ICTs.
Recently, the government was contemplating tightening control over incoming and
64
http://www.zimbabwemail.com/index.php?id=9613&pubdate=2004-11-28 Accessed on 28/11/2004

95
outgoing mail on Internet through service providers. According to an article in the
South African weekly, The Mail and Guardian: 65
A new contract, which must be signed for the companies to have access to telephone
lines, states that the "use of the network for anti-national activities" will be regarded
as "an offence punishable under Zimbabwe law".
The same article also states that this is the second time that the government of
Zimbabwe has tried to vet the free flow of information on the Internet. In 2002, the
Zimbabwean Parliament passed a Telecommunications Act requiring all Internet
service providers to allow state agents to monitor the email correspondence of any
subscriber without the service providers informing their clients that their emails were
being read. In March 2004, the Supreme Court, however, ruled that those clauses of
the telecommunications law were unconstitutional (The Guardian, 2004).

The climate of regulation and control in the country has implications for policy in
general and educational policy in particular, as the actors in policy making are bound
to operate in an environment of mistrust and bad faith.

34.3.2 Repressive Communication laws

Policies on the use of ICTs in education are intertwined with several other related
policy areas, (James, 2001). The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) which were both passed in
2002 need to be mentioned when one is talking about ICTs, as they reflect a negative
stance by the government on the free flow of information in Zimbabwe, thereby
giving weight to James’ (2001) statement. The general environment where the
government is trying to control the flow of information makes it difficult for the
diffusion of ICTs. It creates an atmosphere of mistrust and fear and militates against
the positive aspects of ICT as they can easily be seen as an extension of government
machinery for the repression of its citizens.

34.4 Resources in ICT

Throughout the study, it has been apparent that the issue of resources is a big and
problematic issue when it comes to the integration of ICTs. ICTs are no doubt a
resource intensive endeavor and in an environment where resources are scarce and

65
Andrew Meldrum Thursday June 3, 2004, Pretoria

96
have to be prioritized, it is imperative that there be a policy that stipulates the issues
involved. All the informants indicated funding as a major handicap for the effective
diffusion of ICTs. One Ministry informant had this to say about funding at HE
institutions;
First and foremost they are our institutions and they get their funding from the ministry
or from the treasury through the ministry, so they would bid for these things; for the
infrastructure for the equipment for the library, salaries. Currently their budgets are
coming in and the ministry is consolidating all the inputs and the estimates from the
universities at the Head Office So they would have included an item that caters for ICT
and infrastructure, but over and above that they would also want to source for funding.
They are encouraged to do so and to charge for services that they render to clients to
augment their budget allocations (Ministry informant # 2).
Because ICTs require a lot of resources, in Zimbabwe they are putting considerable
strain on institutional budgets in an environment where the government is pressed for
resources to help much. Institutions have realised that they cannot rely on government
funding on ICTs and have been forced to find ways of financing themselves. Thus
their resource dependencies have moved from the government to the industry, donors
and even their own departments for resources. NUST ICT Implementer # 1 had this to
say about their case,
We mainly fund ourselves. The projects that we do are in most cases self funding as we
do work for the industry and we get paid. Then we also have projects that come directly
through the university as proposals as well as some donor projects.
The NUST Strategic plan clearly states that
The financial resources required for the achievement of the Strategic Plan are unlikely
to be available from government, which is the major source of operating revenue for
NUST (NUST Strategic Plan for ICT 2003 – 2005:12).
That being the case, the plan outlines financial alternatives including development of
proposals to potential donors, introduction of a fee levy on students for computer use
and access, running commercial courses on computing and computers, providing
consultancy services on ICT (through Comp Consult) and involvement in joint
ventures with software development agencies in the provision of management
financial solutions.

Although there was a deliberate effort to downplay the role of donors in the diffusion
of ICTs, one informant acknowledged their important role when he said,

97
 In fact we are happy that VVOB, did not, like the other donors, leave things midstream.
Some just left things midstream when things were happening and they got pressure
from their governments, but to the contrary, VVOB has decided to stay (Ministry
Informant # 1).
Most of the ICT initiatives in the country are invariably donor-driven. In fact, in a
situation where state assisted institutions cannot get money from the government,
their dependency on donors for resources is increased. Another informant had this to
say:
What happens is that because of the situation we find ourselves in, some projects may
not be undertaken. So if donors come with money and ask for proposals, then why not?
A good example is the project on the National ICT policy, which is being funded in
collaboration with UNDP (NUST ICT Implementer # 2).

James (2001) states that most policy work and initiatives in Africa (excluding South
Africa) on the use of ICTs in education has been funded by donor agencies rather than
national governments. While this in itself does not present a problem, in practice, this
has created problems in terms of local ownership and sustainability of interventions.
A good example of this in Zimbabwe would be the Africa Virtual University funded
by the World Bank, and which is not currently providing on the grand objectives that
it was set out to do. This is exacerbated by the fact that International experts on
projects as well as policy research on ICTs dominate the ICT field and this also means
that local expertise to drive ICT initiatives does not grow. All this stems from the
significant role played by resources in the diffusion of ICTs, as they are by nature
themselves resource intensive. As such, one cannot run away from the issue of
institutional dependence on resource relationships, thus confirming the assertion by
Resource dependency theory (Cloete and Maassen, 2002) that institutions rely on
resource relationships for survival.

34.5 Unintended outcomes of ICT

Both Activity theory (Krogstie, 2000) and literature on policy implementation (e.g.,
Cloete and Maassen, 2002) suggest that in as much as a process can achieve what it
was set out to do, there will always be something else that comes out of that process
which was not intended; unintended outcomes of a process. Typical of any process,
the adoption of ICTs in the two institutions chosen for this study, has also had

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unintended outcomes, most prominent of which are brain drain and what I have called
the departmental “digital divide.”

34.5.1 Brain Drain

The two institutions have encountered problems where both their technical staff
members, and especially their lecturers, as a result of acquiring ICT expertise, have
become attractive to competing universities or private sector organisations offering
more money. Some staff members have left under the auspices of going abroad to
acquire further degrees and experience, and they have never returned. In a keynote
paper presented at a one-day research board seminar entitled “Research at NUST”, the
Pro Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor C. B. Nyathi, presented this problem
like this,
There is a fascination among my younger colleagues to undertake postgraduate work
outside Zimbabwe. Travel to seek experience and excitement outside one’s own natural
environment is a natural human phenomenon. Whether it is for financial, academic or
other gains, that desire can be very strong. This desire can in fact be so strong that some
will travel to far off places to visit the Victoria Falls 66 that is easily visible from their
sitting room window. Every effort must be made to initiate higher degrees by research
right here at NUST (NUST Research Vol. 3, 2001:8).
What this means is that people go far away to obtain higher degrees that they can
easily acquire at home, and since it is possible to get the qualifications they seek at
home, their main reasons for leaving are in fact financial and excitement. Elsewhere
in the same paper, Professor Nyathi encourages senior academics at the institution to
encourage their younger colleagues to get their doctoral degrees at NUST, as this will
encourage a research culture at the institution. Although the issue was not voiced at
the UZ, stories from local as well as international newspapers indicate a great deal of
brain drain from the institution. Remuneration policies at state institutions should
therefore be made to give incentives that try to curb this outflow of professionals as
well as attracting new professionals.

34.5.2 A new form of the “digital divide”

Also coming out of the study is evidence that a new form of the digital divide seems
to be emerging as departments and indeed faculties that have international links
appear to have more ICT infrastructure than those that do not have. A good example

66
Victoria Falls is one of Zimbabwe’s major tourist attractions situated in Victoria Falls, a town which is a short distance from
Bulawayo where NUST is located

99
of this is seen at the UZ with departments such as Media Studies under the English
Department which is linked to the Institute of Media and Communication at the
University of Oslo, The African Languages Research Institute which is linked by the
African Languages Lexical (ALLEX) Project to the University of Oslo, The
Department of Computer Studies which receives resources from the Belgians, the
Medical School with Spanish connections as well as related international
relationships. Although this has not been particularly come out as a problem at NUST,
it should nonetheless be watched out for. This digital divide should be monitored and
rectified, as it has the potential of growing and eroding departmental capacity to
provide quality education.

On the other hand though, international links have been crucial in facilitating ICT
initiatives in an environment where there is lack of an overarching policy to help in
the adoption of ICTs. They have in most cases introduced the use of ICTs in teaching
and learning and thus brought technology to the various departments. It is interesting
to point out at this stage that while international links were reported, there seems to be
no evidence of cooperation between the two institutions chosen for this study. Maybe
this is because they compete for the best brains in the study fields where their
programs overlap. Still they could learn a lot from each other’s experiences in the
adoption of ICTs.

35 Does policy affect the status of ICT in Zimbabwe?

Having come this far in the study, the question still remains on whether policy
ultimately has any effect at all on the status of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe. This question
will be looked at on two levels: institutional policy and national policy.

35.1 Institutional Policy

Successful adoption of ICTs requires a division of responsibilities throughout an
institution, and this can best be outlined in an ICT policy for that institution. NUST
has a very comprehensive ICT strategic plan, which forms a very good basis for the
diffusion and distribution of ICTs at the institution. However, it could be helped
further by a country ICT policy which might make it easier for acquisition of ICT
infrastructure. The UZ on the other hand has incorporated ICTs into their overall
strategic plan and this has been seen as a possible reason for their still having a lot of

100
skeptics when it comes to use. While this might seem like UZ is not giving ICTs as
much particular emphasis as NUST, it should also be looked at in light of the different
focuses of the two institutions. NUST is after all a science and technology institution
while the UZ is a more general institution, catering for a wider range of disciplines.
Nonetheless, the differences in the status of ICT at the two institutions as a result of
the ICT emphasis in their strategic plans points to the fact that policy does impact on
the status of ICT. Drawing from other African experiences for example in Namibia
(Gudmundsdottir, 2002), Egypt (Warshauer, 2003), Rwanda (Dzidonu, 2002) and
Nigeria (Ajayi, 2002) where policies have been put in place to support the adoption of
ICTs in education, it seems that policies do have a central role in the adoption of
ICTs.

It has also come out of this study that notwithstanding the emphasis on ICT in
institutional policies, institutional policies are not sufficient for an effective
integration of ICTs. They need to be supported by a national policy on ICT, which
will create the necessary preconditions for institutions to adopt ICTs.

35.2 National Policy

There is evidence of an inclination towards ICTs in Zimbabwe as evidenced by the
computerization of government departments as well as Higher Education institutions,
donations of computers by government officials, rural electrification and projects on
ICTs. Still the lack of a national ICT policy presents problems for institutions in their
ICT initiatives. It has been argued that because of the characteristics of an Information
and Knowledge-based Economy (IKE), developed countries can put in place specific
ICT deployment programs and national information infrastructure (NII) programs and
move their advanced economies into information and knowledge-based economies
(Dzidonu, 2002). However, for African countries, it will not be enough to implement
a number of isolated ICT projects, programs or sectoral policies that are not tied to
their overall socio-economic development strategy (ibid). Khalil-Timamy (2002: 7)
states, “the basic objective of a technology policy is to influence the rate and direction
of technological change in an economy.” To be able to address the challenges of
globalization and the information age, African countries like Zimbabwe will need to
put in place ICT policies and plans in their wider socio-economic development plans.

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One informant from the UZ when asked whether the lack of a national ICT policy has
had an effect on the diffusion of ICT at UZ responded,
Yes and No. You see, at the UZ we are very focused. We have got a policy with a focus
on ICT. We have a vision in as far as ICT is concerned. But the yes part of it is that if
we had a country ICT policy, then we would actually have priorities for instance with
issues to do with our Internet connectivity pipe or bandwidth. Our biggest problem here
at UZ is our bandwidth, because locally we have very well developed LAN and WAN
systems, which are as good as any institution, but if you look at the E-journals that we
have subscribed to, we cannot really have access because of the bandwidth. Because
there is no national ICT policy, there is no one who can actually go ahead and say here
is the focus (UZ ICT Implementer # 2).

As this study has already shown, institutional policies are not sufficient for the
adoption of ICTs, and what this informant seems to say is that in the absence of a
national ICT policy, institutions cannot just sit and wait.

Upon being asked what he hoped the national ICT policy would do, one informant
said,
The ICT policy should highlight key things that need to be addressed in terms of ICT.
There are high tariffs on the importation of ICT equipment because there is a notion
that computers are a luxury. We hope such things can be modified. Most policy makers
are unaware of the importance of ICT and we hope they can be enlightened. But most
important of all, we hope ICTs can be made a main component of the budget. Every
Ministry should have a budget for ICTs which can then be cascaded to the various
subsections of the Ministries. Most of the schools that are acquiring computers today
(mostly through donations) do not have the funds to service them because ICT has not
been made a part of their priorities (NUST ICT Implementer # 1).
A country policy for Zimbabwe is imperative, as it will address issues of funding,
policy, regulation, acquisition of infrastructure and even highlighting the necessity of
ICTs in the country. Dzidonu (2002) states that the extent to which African countries
will benefit from the information revolution and transform their economies will
depend on their readiness and capability to develop, deploy and exploit ICTs in their
respective economies as part of a comprehensive policy. The pervasive nature of ICTs
requires a holistic policy that will anchor and consolidate all current ICT initiatives.

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Some of the informants have blamed the lack of a national ICT policy on the
controversy over the custodian of the policy,
The lack of a policy in Zimbabwe to me is a very baffling thing. I think its just lack of
coordination on the part of the people who are supposed to come up with a policy. To
my little knowledge there have been efforts to actually come up with a policy, but it has
been slow because one of the biggest questions is that who is going to be the custodian
of that policy? In Zimbabwe that can be a problem because is it the MoHTE, is it the
new Ministry of Science and Technology, is it the Ministry of Information or is the
Ministry of Transport because you see our telecommunications falls under the Ministry
of Transport. Or it stakeholders, where we actually consider institutions? (UZ
Informant)

Other informants have validated this sentiment on the custodian of the ICT policy as
well. One ICT Implementer at NUST who is also part of the committee working on
the draft ICT policy had this to say

The government has three Ministries that deal with ICTs, Ministry of Science and
Technology, Ministry of Information and Publicity and The Ministry of Transport and
Communication, but there hasn’t been any indication as to which one will be the
custodian of the national ICT policy. Perhaps that is the biggest problem (Implementer
# 2).

In an interview in a Zimbabwean Weekly Newspaper, Financial Gazette, a

representative from the Computer Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ) also pointed out this
problem. He said,
We have said we only need one champion Ministry to drive the initiative (National ICT
Policy). The other Ministries can just make contributions. The problem now is that all
Ministries want to play a leading role Financial Gazette, 9/9/2004
This situation is creating too much red tape and resulting in unnecessary delays in
coming up with a national policy on ICT.

While this might be true, it does not seem logical that a crucial endeavor such as the
making of a national ICT policy for the country should be stalled by the fact that
people cannot decide under which Ministry it will fall. A number of countries all over
the world have put in place policies and strategic plans to enable them to transform
their economies. In India for instance, the government sees ICTs and their deployment
as an area in which the country can quickly establish global dominance (Dzidonu,

103
2002). Malaysia with its vision 2020 and Singapore with its “intelligent island”
vision, both see ICTs as the main engine for promoting accelerated growth (ibid).

Nearer home, Other African countries like Rwanda, Senegal Mozambique and South
Africa have not only come up with national policies on ICT (Dzidonu, 2002), but
countries such as Namibia have gone a step further and come up with a policy
document for Information Technology in Education (Gudmundsdottir, 2002). The
need to embrace ICTs has been recognized the world over, and Zimbabwe is still
trailing behind in the formation of a country ICT policy. Even the World Bank (2002)
states that an integrated policy for increased ICT investment in education, teacher
training and support is the only way to ensure effective local adoption of ICT and
long-term diffusion. In the words of Khalil-Timamy (2002: 7), the formulation of
technology policies is an activity of “great strategic value.”

36 Implications for teaching and learning

Looking at policy issues surrounding the status of ICT in HE in Zimbabwe is just a
starting point, the bigger picture being the application of ICTs on teaching and
learning to enhance educational offerings. What the study has looked at is crucial in
that unless the policy issues have been clearly mapped out, it will be difficult to apply
ICTs in a learning sense. It is one thing to have policies in place for the effective
adoption of ICTs, but ultimately, it is putting resources into teaching and learning that
constitutes the real implementation of ICTs in teaching and learning.

Some early work has been done on the application of ICTs in teaching and learning in
Zimbabwe (e.g., Morrison, 2001, Hungwe, 2002) and institutions like UZ and NUST
are working on e-learning platforms, but a lot still needs to be done. The application
of ICTs in HE in Zimbabwe is an area that can be taken up for further research.
According to an Association of African Universities (AAU) 2000 report, success in
the integration of technology in teaching and learning may require that faculty
members reflect on the following questions:
Why use technology? Why integrate multimedia into a course? Why use online
collaborative learning in a course? Why build distance courses that are completely

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 online? Why assess the effectiveness of technology in a course? Why engage in the
design (not just use) of web-based course materials? (AAU Report, 2000 67)
The report says that answers must be provided to these questions in order to carry
along the faculty members. As such, the drive to the use ICTs must be part of a
broader discussion on commitment to learning quality and equality. While traditional
teaching practices result in modest improvement in easily measured areas of student
achievement to gain higher order skills development requires a new pedagogy;
variously referred to as "generative", "constructivist", "learner-centered", and
"collaborative" (AAU Report, 2000) and ICTs can facilitate these. Establishing
education policies focusing on ICT is a complicated and difficult but essential affair
in which efforts to change strategic direction need to be balanced against the
importance of ensuring continuity and stability. Policy makers at the Ministry of
Higher Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and Culture need to
work on coming up with an ICT policy for education in Zimbabwe.

37 Implications for Theory and Knowledge

This study in large part confirms some of the assumptions of neo-institutional
theories. It illuminates particularly how much an innovation needs to be incorporated
into the culture (values and beliefs that are in line with an organization) before it can
fully be accepted. This institutionalization process is made easier by comprehensive
policies that show decisiveness on the part of an institution in a certain direction. As
far as resource dependency is concerned, this study shows that ICTs increase
institutions’ resource dependencies, as they are a resource intensive endeavor. The
fact that funding comes out as a big factor in this study is a result of the nature of
ICTs themselves, as well as the developmental environment in which they are being
adopted, that is in a developing country where they have to compete for resource
prioritization with other development needs such as poverty alleviation, drought and
diseases such as HIV and AIDS.

This study has introduced the use of Activity theory as a framework for discussing
findings in the field of Educational Policy and Planning, and like all innovations, it is
subject to improvement. However, the use of Activity theory is something that can
further explored in this field. The fact that Activity theory is a tool for studying

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accessed online at http://www.aau.org/english/documents/aau-ictreport-p3.htm on 29/04/2005

105
processes predisposes itself to an analysis of policy issues, as they are themselves
process oriented.

38 Implications for Policy and Action

The study has shown that a comprehensive ICT policy resulting from participation at
the institutional level can go a long way in convincing people on the importance of
ICTs as in the case of NUST. UZ should learn from this experience and fine tune their
ICT policy so that it can be more comprehensive, and thus speed up its
internalization. At the same time, it should also be borne in mind that the relative
success at NUST might not entirely be a result of their comprehensive policy, but a
function of the culture of the organization which is young and dynamic, and thus open
to change. It has also been shown how Departments at NUST have become innovative
in helping fundraise for ICTs, and UZ can borrow the same concept to reduce external
dependency for resources.

The study has revealed a departmental “digital divide” that seems to be emerging.
Institutions are therefore cautioned to be wary of this “digital divide” among
departments because if it is left unattended, it has the potential to erode the capacity of
many departments to provide quality education to future generations of students. At
the same time, international links with departments should be encouraged as they fill
in a gap in the provision of technology infrastructure where institutes cannot rely on
government support.

While a lot of initiative on ICT in HE is evident as exemplified in the two cases, it is

apparent that almost all of the challenges and factors affecting the status of ICT can
be traced to the lack of an overall ICT policy in the country. A national ICT policy
would do a lot in terms of clearing the ground for the effective adoption and diffusion
of ICTs. While it is noteworthy that a commission is already in place which is
expected to come up with a country ICT policy, the pace with which things are going
needs to be speeded up if the country is to catch up with even other African countries.
It is the recommendation of this study then that institutions like NUST and UZ be
actively involved in the formulation of the National ICT Policy as it can benefit
immensely from their experiences.

106
At the same time, it should be noted that the call for a national ICT policy does not
mean that the government should undertake a controlled planning process to create an
information society. Rather, it should create the necessary institutional and policy
preconditions for the adoption of ICTs.

39 Implications for Further Research

A lot of interesting issues came out of the study, which can be the basis for further
research. It would be interesting to find out the real extent of the role of donors and
international agencies in the adoption of ICTs in Zimbabwe as there seemed to be
deliberate efforts to down play it in both institutions. An exploration of the climate of
regulation and control, and how this affects the diffusion of ICTs in is another area
that can further be explored as some skepticism in the use of ICTs seemed to stem
from the fear that they could be yet another way of state repression. A similar study as
the one I have undertaken can also be very enlightening if it was focused on
polytechnics or other sectors of HE. The use of Activity theory as a framework for
discussing the adoption of ICTs at the two institutions has been something of an
innovative endeavor as no literature has been found by this researcher to show that it
has been used in this particular context. While its successful use in this context is
subject to opinion, its further use in research of this kind may add to the richness of
studies in Educational Policy and Planning.

40 Conclusion
The task that this study had been set for was to examine the status of ICT in HE in
Zimbabwe through two institutions, as well as to determine the importance of policy
on this status. Through the use of resource dependency theory, neo institutional
theory, and activity theory as a framework for discussing the issues, the study has
shown that policy is crucial in the adoption of ICTs, not only at institutional level, but
at country level as well. The differences in infrastructure and use of ICTs at the two
institutions have been explained by the differences in the focus on ICT in their
strategic plans. It has been shown that because NUST has come up with a more
comprehensive ICT policy, infrastructure and use at the institution are both better than
at UZ where the policy emphasis on ICT is more laissez-faire. At the same time, it
should also be acknowledged that the relative success at NUST might not entirely be a
result of their comprehensive policy, but a combination of policy and the culture of

107
the organization which is young and dynamic, and thus open to change. Because the
modus operandi at UZ is supported by fifty years of tradition, it is much slower in
accepting change.

The two theories that have been chosen to interpret the findings, resource dependency
and neo institutional theory have been very instrumental in showing the importance of
policy in the adoption of ICTs. Because ICT is resource intensive, it increases
institutional resource dependencies, and in an environment where the state as the
major resource base cannot offer enough funds, institutions look towards external
fund-holders for survival. Furthermore, the fact that ICTs have to compete with other
priorities in the institution for resources means that there is need for a clearly stated
plan for ICTs, which caters for resource logistics like how much money is needed and
how and where it is going to come from. Neo institutional theory with its emphasis on
the institutionalization of an innovation before it can be acceptable also supports the
centrality of a policy framework in putting the adoption of ICTs in institutions on the
agenda.

The close relationship between the adoption of ICTs and policy has been illustrated
through the use of an Activity theory framework, which has offered concepts as well
as a frame for discussing the findings from the two cases. While the use of the
Activity theory framework has not been exploited to its full potential, and thus
bringing more questions than answers in some cases, it has nonetheless been useful in
discussing a rather complex reality where literature on the subject has been very
minimal.

While the interview as a method chosen for the investigation of the issue at hand has
had some shortcomings, where people were giving politically correct answers to
questions, it has nonetheless proved very useful in an environment where people are
politically sensitive. Document analysis has also proved invaluable to the study
process as it provided information that could not always be covered by the interviews.

The study has also shown that regardless of institutional policies on ICT, the two
institutions have run into many problems as they try to integrate ICTs in their teaching
and learning, and administration. All the problems that they have faced, and that they

108
continue to face in this endeavor, have been traced back to a lack of country ICT
policy, which contributes to hanging (or anchorless) policies in the various
institutions, and which further complicates the diffusion of ICTs in these institutions.
Thus it has also been established that ultimately, institutional policies alone are not
sufficient for the adoption of ICTs. They need to be supported by a country ICT
policy, which levels the playing field for easier adoption of ICTs. Institutional ICT
initiatives before a national ICT policy base are tantamount to the proverbial putting
the cart before the horse, and in a country bedeviled with a host of problems including
poverty, HIV and AIDS and other development priorities, this further complicates
issues. The major recommendation for this study therefore is that Zimbabwe hasten its
process of coming up with a national ICT policy if it is to realize effective diffusion of
this innovation in its institutions.

All in all, one may pose the fundamental question “At the end of the day, are policy
issues around ICTs important for Zimbabwe?” The answer for me is that they are
critical as it is only through the articulation of these policy issues that successful
adoption and meaningful use of ICTs can be realized. The question about ICTs in
Zimbabwe’s HE institutions is not whether it will, but rather how it will make a
difference in teaching and learning. The policy issues surrounding the adoption of
ICTs will become more complex as both the players and technology in HE become
more numerous and diverse, and if the confrontation of these issues does not start
now, it can be a long way before ICTs can really be useful for teaching and learning
in Zimbabwe.

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