The University of Venda (Univen) and the Zimbabwean government have signed an agreement to strengthen co-operation on the operations of that country’s Presidential Scholarship Programme.

The director of Zimbabwe’s Presidential Scholarship Programme, Mr Christopher Mushowe, said a four-member delegation from the University of Venda was in that country recently for the signing of the agreement as well as to enhance ties. "This agreement will not only cement our relationship, but will promote co-operation with the University of Venda," said Mushowe.

He said the delegation met relevant government officials and the signing of the agreement was a fulfillment of their discussions, adding that more than 100 local students would get Presidential Scholarships to study at Univen next year. The chairperson of the council of Univen, Ms Shirley Mabasela, said they were pleased to be entering into a solid relationship with Zimbabwe. She said they had agreements with three other universities in Zimbabwe. "We have since signed an agreement with the Chinhoyi University of Technology (Zimbabwe). Our focus is mainly on agriculture and management sciences," she said.

Univen also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Great Zimbabwe University in June 2007, following the move by the latter to include the TshiVenda and Tsonga languages in their degree programmes. The programmes, which were subsequently introduced in April 2008, run for three years, with students taking up either of the two languages, together with two other courses. The students will then subsequently major in their language of choice in the final year of studies.

The programme is open to anyone who is proficient in either of the two languages.

Univen has since offered resources such as study literature and eight lecturers to teach the two programmes.