Five more tertiary institutions get campus radio licences

The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) has granted campus radio licences to four universities and a polytechnic in a move expected to promote student training, research and entertainment in tertiary education institutions.

The role of these stations in promoting freedom of expression is uncertain amid ongoing conflict between student leaders and the government of Zimbabwe over the deteriorating economic and social conditions in the country. Outspoken student leaders and protesters have been arrested.

The licensees are the National University of Science and Technology, Lupane State University, Midlands State University, University of Zimbabwe, and the Harare Polytechnic. The institutions join the Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) which received its licence last year.

Matthias Chakanyuka, CEO of BAZ, said more licences will be issued to universities and colleges in the future.

“We have a frequency allotment plan which allocates frequencies to all the campuses of educational institutions that offer media studies in Zimbabwe. So, if one wants a licence and their institution offers media studies, then they simply have to apply with the authority,” he told University World News.

More licences enhance media plurality

In 2020, the government said that it had gazetted a frequency allotment plan and regulations that enable the establishment of 19 campus radio stations to be operated by institutions of higher learning.

Golden Maunganidze, director of the campus radio station at the GZU told University World News that the granting of more licences to institutions of higher learning not only enhances media plurality but also teaching, learning and research.

He said that the 11-month-old GZU campus radio station is offering hands-on experience to media students, but will in the future be available to other departments of the university for learning purposes, too.

Thabani Moyo, a director of the Media Southern Africa-Zimbabwe Chapter, said broadcasting in Zimbabwe is tightly controlled and the licence regime is so politicised that those that end up getting licences are one way or another linked to the government, the ruling party or the ruling elite.

“Campus radio stations are licensed mainly to state-owned institutions, the bulk of them being universities that are owned by the government,” he said.

“The fact that the first batch of campus radio licences went to state-owned institutions gives you a picture in terms of the leeway the institutions have as far as broadcasting is concerned.

He added: “Their independence can, therefore, only be tested when you go to a high stakes game like the impending 2023 elections. How the stations will behave will give you an indication of the licensing and content ... but licensing is used as a control mechanism towards content.”

Vice-chancellor uses radio broadcast

Last week, Professor Rungano Zvobgo, vice-chancellor of GZU, used radio to welcome students to the first examination session of 2021.

Alexander Rusero, journalism and political studies researcher at GZU and former journalism lecturer at the Harare Polytechnic, said campus radio stations helped widen access to information at higher learning institutions as their spectrum usually did not go beyond 5km.

“Kudos to government for awarding the licences, but they are not enough; there should be more community radio stations,” Rusero said.

“Most universities and colleges have been purporting to offer online lessons, but many of them have not been doing so because they lack modalities to achieve this. Radio is a cheaper mode of communication that will allow many of the institutions to communicate and offer online learning,” he told University World News.

In an article about a virtual workshop on the use of radio and television for learning, UNESCO says that, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, most countries around the world adopted the use of television and radio-based programmes to implement distance education.

Africa seems to be the most active in efforts to leverage either television or radio (70%), some combining both (34% of countries), while Europe and North America seem to be using less radio than other regions. These countries are very active in deploying television-based distance education programmes.

However, the use of both radio and television as tools to provide distance education have met with major challenges – among them a lack of educational content in audio-visual format, difficulty in producing content in quantity and quality in a short time, and the lack of know-how and expertise in monitoring and evaluation of learning on these platforms.