Social Work Education, Training and Employment in Africa: The case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Social work education in Zimbabwe commenced with the establishment of the School of Social Work in Harare in 1964 by the Catholic Jesuit Fathers. The School was initially called the School of Social Service. Prior to this, the country’s social workers were mainly trained in British, South African and Zambian Social Work Colleges. The first students were trained as group workers for clubs, welfare centres, and urban conditions where the clientele were more visible. The major strength of colonial social work education was that it formed the basis for professional social work practice resulting in the creation of a three year diploma in 1966. In 1969 the school changed its name to the School of Social Work and became the first associate college of the University of Rhodesia (now University of Zimbabwe), with students awarded a university diploma in Social Work after a three year program. In 1975 the School established the first bachelor’s degree programme in Social Work (BSW), which was followed later by the Honours and Masters degree. The school, which is the only social work training institution in the country, is now an affiliate of the University of Zimbabwe. Since the attainment of independence, the School of Social Work has transformed into a dynamic institution making social work education more responsive to the development needs of the country. The government in Zimbabwe remains the largest employer of social workers with a few employed by private and charitable organisations (NGOs). The single greatest challenge facing social work education in Zimbabwe today is making it more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe. In this vein however, it has become imperative for the institution to prepare social workers capable of addressing local structural problems, as well as maintaining an international flavour in line with the current trends of globalization in which there is rapid movement of social workers across international frontiers.