ZIMBABWE

Students stranded after failed exchange programme
Close to 200 students from Equatorial Guinea are stranded in Zimbabwe following a botched exchange programme between the two governments, reports The Zimbabwean.Inside sources told The Zimbabwean that President Robert Mugabe’s government last year agreed to allow students from Equatorial Guinea to come and earn tertiary qualifications locally due to Zimbabwe’s reputation of having the highest literacy rate in Africa. Mugabe and Equatorial Guinea leader, Obiang Nguema, have been close friends since the former’s security operatives forestalled a coup in Malabo a decade ago.
The sources said Nguema’s education ministry hurriedly sent the students to Zimbabwe in November last year after the deal was informally agreed between the two governments. “The problem is, the majority of the students cannot speak English at all,” said one of the sources.
The students were brought in without prior consultation with college authorities or the relevant ministry and have been allocated to several polytechnic colleges.
Full report on The Zimbabwean site