"Remove Maths As Part Of College Entry Requirements": Higher Education Minister

Higher Education Minister Professor Amon Murwira has called on tertiary institutions to scrap Mathematics as a requirement for students to study programmes which do not require calculations.

Addressing academics at Bulawayo Polytechnic in Bulawayo on Thursday, Prof Murwira said Mathematics cannot be a requirement for all programmes. He also said entry requirements must be subject specific. Said Prof Murwira:

If a subject or if a qualification really requires people to calculate. I think Mathematics is important isn’t it? But you can’t say we want English and Mathematics where even you don’t need to calculate.  There is this inflexibility sometimes that is introduced. I think universities, polytechnics and colleges are some of the most conservative institutions. Let’s be more flexible concerning this, when you see it’s needed yes it’s needed. It cannot be a general entry qualification. Because sometimes you say English but the person is going to make some brick making machines, I think it’s about us being flexible on that one. We want to give academic freedom to our institutions, it means you look at your logic, and don’t be a slave of your regulation because you made it, make another one. That’s what I mean when I say owning the country; you can’t be a slave of a regulation.

More: Chronicle