Passmore Kuzipa
His name is Wiseman Magwa and, indeed, he is a wise man – full of wisdom and vision.
When his parents named him Wiseman probably they were just interested in the name itself, with no idea that he would surely become a genius – a Professor one day!
Prof Wiseman Magwa
But alas, Prof Magwa has defied all odds and fulfilled his parents’ dream of him being a wise man.
He is now a Full Professor and, more interestingly, the founding Vice-Chancellor of one of the most promising upcoming private universities – the Reformed Church University (RCU). That is the power of a name!
Prof Magwa has since transformed RCU over the past four years to become the most sough-after university in the country, if not in the southern region of Africa, in as far as Special Needs Education is concerned.
Prof Magwa said RCU aims to become the world class centre of excellence in special education in the next few years.
“Our vision is to be a relevant world-class centre of excellence in special needs education, research and community service embedded in Christian values. We exist to provide equal opportunities for holistic and quality education and research aimed at producing innovative and morally upright graduates,” said Prof Magwa.
For starters, Prof Magwa was appointed the founding vice-chancellor of RCU in 2011 and since then he has done a tremendous job that has seen the university evolving into a fully-fledged one.
Prof Wiseman Magwa
RCU started enrolling in 2012 with just 70 students on Block Release programmes and offering only four degree programmes – Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Special Needs Education; Bachelor of Education Honours Degree in Early Childhood Development; Bachelor in Theology Honours Degree; and Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Human Resources, Industrial and Labour Relations Management.
In October 2013, the Zimbabwe Council of Higher Education (ZIMCHE) accredited three new degree programmes in the Faculty of Commerce – Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Public Administration, Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Marketing and Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Business Management.
“We were overwhelmed by the response from students who wanted to undertake Public Administration and as a result we opened a learning and research centre in Harare. We are ready to open campuses anywhere where there is demand for our services.
“Work has also started at our main campus at a farm along the Masvingo-Bulawayo highway. We have agreed upon ten key strategic priority areas namely; academic growth, infrastructure development, resource mobilisation, technology equipment support services, stakeholder satisfaction, human capital development, research and development, business development, corporate governance and community engagement,” Prof Magwa said.
“We started with 70 students in 2012 and we now have around 650, of which 130 are conventional and 520 are on block release programmes. We however, want to reiterate that we are not in a hurry to relocate from Morgenster Mission to our main site and that we are not here for competition but to serve a different niche, that is, special needs education,” he emphasised.
RCU is set to hold its inaugural graduation ceremony this Friday February 26, 2016.
With hordes of novels, academic and research books he published on his table, one would certainly expect to meet a veteran educationist as one enters Prof Magwa’s office.
Prof Magwa has so far published 24 books which are being used as reference books in schools, colleges and universities. Among his popular novels are Mafaro, Atsunzunya Rega Atsikwe, Njuzu and Jemedza, just to mention a few.
Prof Magwa also published Shona grammar books (dudziramutauro) for both O’ and A’ Level.
He is now a Full Professor with a Doctoral degree in Language Education from the University of South Africa. Prof Magwa started his career as a High School teacher before joining Gweru Teachers College in 1988 as a lecturer. He rose through the ranks and was appointed Senior Lecturer in 1990 and Principal Lecturer in 1994.
When the college evolved into a University, Magwa was appointed lecturer at the newly established Midlands State University (MSU) in 2000 and was later promoted to become Senior Lecturer in 2003.
He was further promoted to the grade of Associate Professor in 2004 and obtained a PhD in Language Education at UNISA in 2008. A year later, in 2009, Professor Magwa was appointed Full Professor and Faculty Dean at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) to pursue a career in Open and Distance Learning.
After serving for only two years as Faculty Dean, Prof Magwa was appointed Acting Vice Chancellor of the newly established RCU in 2011 and promoted to become the 1st Vice Chancellor of the same University in November 2012.
Prof Magwa has written extensively in the area of language, literature, education and philosophy. He has also published over 100 academic articles on various aspects of language, literature, grammar, education and philosophy. Prof Magwa was the chief language consultant and advisor in the making of the new constitution of Zimbabwe (2011-2012), regional coordinator in the CASAS Language Harmonisation of Indigenous Languages in Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe project (2008-2012).
Prof Magwa is a recipient of several international awards for his academic achievements. In June 2013 he was awarded the World Education Congress Global Trophy for outstanding contribution to education which he personally received in Mumbai, India.
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