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Lecturers teaching at state-owned tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe have been asked to earn their doctoral degrees (PhD) by 2017 or risk losing their jobs.
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Zimbabwe's Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Professor Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo, who spoke during a familiarisation meeting with academic and non-academic staff at the Great Zimbabwe University, explained that there is already an agreement between the Robert Mugabe-led government and the state universities' Vice Chancellors, as efforts continue to encourage high learning standards at the tertiary level.
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He implied that the Doctor of Philosophy degrees (Ph.D) minimum requirement for being a university lecturer would be enforced by 2017, leaving many lecturers with just about 15 months to earn theirs.
"The decision (for lecturers to have a minimum qualification of a PhD) was not made by Government, but by the universities themselves," Moyo said.
"The majority of universities in our country recognise that the minimum qualification for a lecturer should be a PhD by 2017.
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"It will be problematic if one is to be found without a PhD by 2017."
The Minister however said the government will allow further discussions before enforcing the requirement.
"We, however, cannot say it is a requirement for a lecturer to have a PhD by 2017, but it is an expectation, the decision to do that came from vice chancellors and universities have academic freedom, it was not a Government decision and there is room for more discussions about that," he added.