Sound budgetary processes form the bedrock of public expenditure in public institutions. This article proposes a conceptual budgetary framework for public universities in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's public universities have been under fiscal stress due to the country's harsh economic environment for close to three decades without any sign of improvement to the extent that there is a need to rethink the public university's budgetary processes. To achieve this, the article draws from the early open systems theory by Ludwig von Bertanlanffy (1956), as revised by Gibran and Sekwat's (2009). The basis of drawing from the system theory is that public universities ought to operate as a system if they are to remain sustainable amidst harsh persistent economic environment. The article peruses the intricacies of the current Zimbabwean legislative framework on public expenditure, the relevant Ministry of Finance statutes, as well as the standing budgetary process for public universities, giving birth to the proposed conceptual framework. By perusing various statutes on public expenditure, the article responds to the fundamental budgetary concerns of financial planning, forecasting, efficiency, transparency and accountability in harsh economic environment within the context of Zimbabwe's public universities. The proposed framework, if adopted, could address or minimize the budgetary challenges facing public universities in Zimbabwe. It concludes by illustrating the operationalization of the proposed budgetary framework.
The study examined the challenges on revenue generation among state universities in Zimbabwe. The situation at state universities is unbearable because of rising inflation, worsening economic and political challenges facing Zimbabwe for close to three decades without any sign of improvement. A case study approach was used to purposively select twelve (12) participants drawn from the two urban state universities. Two university financial directors and 10 senior members of staff from the selected universities were interviewed. An inductive approach to analysing the responses allowed themes and categories to emerge. The study established that the current legislation, macroeconomic and political environment, reduction in government support and diminishing grant funding were noted as major barriers to revenue generation among state universities in Zimbabwe. On the way forward, there is need for the universities to be given the autonomy to determine their own fees and activities. University administrators need to be resolute, innovative, determined and creative.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.