HARARE, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's first graduate school named after President Robert Mugabe is set to be established following government's approval of a 1 billion U.S. dollars grant for construction of the university, an official said Wednesday.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Jonathan Moyo said the Robert Gabriel Mugabe University was to be established in honor of President Mugabe's commitment to education and exemplary leadership.
He said the institution will be fully dedicated to the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), becoming the first STEM university in the country.
One unique feature of the university will be the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Institute which will focus on research, historical collections, library and studies in transformative and revolutionary leadership, the minister said.
The university will be managed by the Robert Mugabe Foundation, with President Mugabe and First Lady, Grace Mugabe being the founding trustees.
"The academic thrust of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe University will concentrate on critical STEM areas almost exclusively at graduate level to produce super specialists and super experts who will champion Zimbabwe's industrialization and modernization for sustainable socio-economic transformation and development," minister Moyo was quoted as saying by state-run news agency New Ziana.
Moyo said it would cost more than the 1 billion dollars to complete the university, which will be equipped with state of the art laboratories and schooling equipment.
He said out of the grant, 800 million dollars will go towards construction of the institution while 200 million dollars will fund establishment of the University Endowment Fund for Research and Innovation.
The university will be located in Mazowe, 40 km north of the capital Harare where the First Lady already runs state-of- the- art primary and secondary schools.
Currently, all universities in Zimbabwe enroll students from Advanced Level but the graduate university will only take students who would have completed university education.
The institution will have capacity to enroll 15,000 students who will be incubated by the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).
UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Levy Nyagura said the university will primarily focus on computer engineering, nano-science and nano technology, bio-technology engineering, telecommunications and electronic engineering.
