Lecturers at University of Zimbabwe on Strike as Cost-of-Living Crisis Disrupts Higher Education

Striking lecturers picketing outside of the University of Zimbabwe, April 2025. Photo Credit: KBC News

Most threats to academic freedom around the world come in the form of political actions and decisions taken by states, whether it’s governmental violation of institutional autonomy, repression of faculty and student speech, or censorship of academic debates and discussions. However, an ongoing university lecturers’ strike in Zimbabwe is showing how conditions of economic crisis, and governmental neglect in the face of these conditions, can also constitute major obstacles to academic freedom.

At the University of Zimbabwe, a large majority of lectures have not been held for months amid a lecturers’ strike that started in opposition to a rapid decrease in real wages due to continuing inflation and currency instability for several years. As their final response to this cost-of-living crisis for academic personnel, more than 200 lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe went on strike on April 16, 2025. With more than three months since the beginning of the strike, thousands of students have been impacted and a possible solution is still not on the horizon.

The main demand of the striking lecturers is that wages be restored to pre-2018 levels. Since 2018, lecturer wages have decreased about 90% from nearly $2,250 to around $230 USD per month. This is mainly due to an uncontrolled rise in inflation in Zimbabwe as well as multiple failed solution attempts by introducing new currencies. Much like other sectors, such as the health sector, adequate solutions for the problems of the higher education sector are yet to be made. In fact, according to Gamuchirai Masiyiwa, reporter for Global Press Journal, the share of higher education in total governmental spending in Zimbabwe actually decreased from 6.9% in 2016 to 3.2% in 2025. This state of governmental neglect has left academics in Zimbabwean higher education to deal with their problems on their own.

As the plight of the lecturers went unnoticed by the government, the University of Zimbabwe has also not made any efforts to improve conditions and have even acted with hostility towards the striking lecturers. While the University of Zimbabwe has recognized the legitimacy of the grievances of the teachers in a May statement, they, nevertheless have fired four striking lecturers.

The four fired academics are members of the Association of University Teachers in Zimbabwe who had been playing leading roles in the association as well as in the strike. The four academics were initially suspended on May 6 and later dismissed for using a meeting hall “without approval from the university”. The academics say that the school initially left their request to use the meeting hall unanswered. However, they later opened the building for the use of the academics, while also sending legal and security personal to participate in and assist the event. However, after the meeting was held, a disciplinary process was initiated against the four lecturers who were consequently fired.

The university has also been using union-busting tactics such as hiring temporary replacements for striking lecturers. Some students have reported that the replacement lecturers are unqualified to deliver the lectures and that some are recently graduated students.

However, faculty are not the only ones at the crosshairs. In July 2025, six University of Zimbabwe students were suspended for having staged a protest on campus in May calling for an end to the strike in solidarity with the lecturers. However, days later, the students, who are members of the University of Zimbabwe chapter of the Zimbabwe National Students Union, were notified by the university that their suspensions were lifted. The reversal of the suspension came after the opposition voiced their criticism of the university’s decision in parliament.

Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) is deeply concerned with the impact of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis conditions on Zimbabwean higher education and the state of academic freedom. We call on the Zimbabwean government to swiftly respond to the demands of academics and students impacted by economic precarity and uncertainty. We further condemn the hostile actions of the University of Zimbabwe against them. We invite the global community dedicated to upholding academic freedom to join our call.