NATIONAL BUDGET ANALYSIS MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION

Zimbabwe's higher education system faces several organisational and institutional challenges (World Bank, 2020). Firstly, there is a distinctive categorisation between "Higher Education," encompassing universities and polytechnics, and "Tertiary Education," comprising post- secondary colleges, some of which do not confer degrees. This differentiation, not commonly observed in other nations, lacks a clear purpose and Zimbabwe's articulation policies hinder student mobility between these two subsystems. Secondly, the absence of a comprehensive information-management system hampers performance monitoring and undermines the basis for making evidence-based policies. Thirdly, the funding model of the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education-ZIMCHE relies on a tax linked to each university's enrollment, creating a significant disincentive to report enrollment figures accurately. Fourthly, salaries for faculty in teacher training colleges and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions are considerably lower than those for university staff, discouraging educators from choosing non-university institutions. Consequently, qualified academics tend to gravitate toward universities, leaving colleges with educators who are more out of necessity