THE United Kingdom’s University of Lancashire wants to attract more students from Southern Africa, while also strengthening its partnerships with the region.
Speaking to the Daily News — the country’s most influential newspaper — the university’s regional manager for sub-Saharan Africa, Angeline Malaba-Ward, also said yesterday that Lancashire would work with local partners to help facilitate visas for qualifying students keen to study in the UK.
“We don’t get as many students as we would like from Southern Africa. We have many students from Africa, but the majority of those students tend to be from West Africa … and a few from East Africa.
“So, what we want to do on this trip is to travel in the region and spread the message as much as possible about the opportunities that we offer students from Southern Africa.
“We are a very international university and we feel that this is the time to let students in the region know more about the university. We are thus visiting local schools to engage with students.
“We started in Botswana and then we went to South Africa. We visited some schools there, and now we are here in Zimbabwe. Part of the team will be going on to Uganda before going back to the United Kingdom,” Malaba-Ward said in Harare yesterday.
This comes as Lancashire currently has about 15 students from Zimbabwe — with many more having graduated from the university over the past two decades.
“The processing of visas has been a challenge in the recent past and that is why we need to work with local partners.
“We need a local partner who will help successful students to make sure that they … got the right documents that satisfy the UK government, that they are genuine students,” Malaba-Ward added.
She also said some qualifying students from Zimbabwe could get significant discounts for their studies at the university.
“As long as you meet the entry requirements for a programme and you are from Zimbabwe, and you have got a passport, that is a £3 000 automatic discount per year of study. And then we have an additional discount and this is called the Excellence Scholarship.
“So, depending on how a student performs, if they have got an A-grade profile, they will get — apart from that £3 000 — an additional £2 500 per year,” she said further.
On her part, an associate dean of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at the university , Charlotte Lawson, said they were seeking partnerships with locals to strengthen Lancashire’s presence in the region.
“This is certainly something that the school is keen to explore in more detail. We are looking for students with science at A-Level.
“We believe that what we have to offer prospective students in Zimbabwe will help them on their career journey,” she added.
Brighton Muronzereyi
