Nust to reopen medical school

Comment & Analysis
BY NQABA MATSHAZI THE National University of Science and Technology (Nust), has been given the go-ahead to resume its medical school studies, ending almost a decade of an acrimonious battle with the Zimbabwe Medical Council (ZMC).

Since 2004, when it was inaugurated, the medical school has been operating on stop-start basis, but there is optimism that this time it will be sustainable.

“We have advertised for places and we are going ahead,” an elated Felix Moyo, director of marketing and publicity at the university, said. “All I can say is that whatever requirements were requested of us, we have met.”

Moyo said the main concern that had been raised was that of staffing, but this had since been addressed.

He said the institution received communication a fortnight ago that it could go ahead with recruitment for the medical degree.

For years now, Nust has been battling the ZMC, which was refusing to recognise the degree being awarded by the university, torching a political storm in Matabeleland.

The new development will come as a relief to scores of students, many of whom had been forced to abandon their studies, while others were compelled to seek further studies in Malawi and Zambia. A number of Zimbabwean students have in the past few years been stranded in the two countries and have relied on the benevolence of well-wishers.

Washington Mbizvo, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Eduaction, said the issue was now behind them and they had put in place all the necessary equipment.