University training in biometrics/ biostatistics in Zimbabwe, the current situation

E. Keogh

Statistics Department, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP 167
Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
E-mail: sucses@mail.id.co.zw

Introduction

The University of Zimbabwe has five faculties for which there are requirements for biometrics/biostatistics training, namely the faculties of Agriculture, Medicine, Veterinary Science, Science and Engineering. All departments within the former three faculties have a requirement for biometrics teaching. The relevant groups within the latter two faculties are a) the departments of Statistics, Biology and Geology and the institutes of Environmental Studies and Food, Nutrition and Family Sciences in the Science Faculty and b) the Water Quality and the Geographical Information System (GIS) units in the Engineering Faculty.

Over the years there has been a gradual reduction in the numbers of biometricians in the university. The situation today is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Academic statisticians and biometricians in the University of Zimbabwe.

Faculty	Department	Academic statisticians	Biometricians
Agriculture	Crop Science	-	1
	Animal Science	-	0
	Other departments	-	0
Medicine	Community Medicine	-	2
	Other departments	-	0
Veterinary Science	All departments	-	0
Science	Statistics	7	1
	Other relevant departments	-	0
Engineering	Relevant departments	-	1

The table demonstrates that trained biometricians are in short supply and, consequently, unable to provide the needs for biometric support. The Department of Animal Science, for instance, has a vacancy for a biometrician that it has been unable to fill.

University of Zimbabwe Statistics Department

The Statistics Department produces roughly 60 graduates with a BSc general degree and 15 with a BSc honours degree each year. In addition, about 15 students receive a Diploma in Statistics and three or so an MSc degree.

The Statistics Department currently has a strong theoretical bias, particularly at the MSc level. Few staff are engaged in active research and very few attend conferences, travel out of the country for meetings or belong to international associations. The staff are young, mostly former MSc students, and there are no staff at a senior level.

The Diploma in Statistics was introduced in 1994 in the hope that it would attract students with a first degree in an applicable area such as agriculture, geography, geology, demography, etc., and provide them with sufficient statistical knowledge to make them competent statisticians in their particular area of expertise. In addition, the programme was introduced to enable government employees to upgrade themselves locally, thus saving the costs of travelling to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for the East Africa Statistics Training Centre programme. Unfortunately, the diploma course has now become almost totally the domain of school teachers who are eagerly searching for routes to leave the teaching profession. The bottom line is that the Statistics Department is not currently in a position to properly train biometricians in Zimbabwe.

Other universities in Zimbabwe

Prospects may be better at two other national universities. The Applied Mathematics Department of the National University of Science and Technology currently offers a broad based degree in applied mathematics. Students can specialise in statistics. Current interest is focused on industry and students go on attachments during the course of their studies. There appears to be considerable enthusiasm in the department and more active research. The department would probably welcome an invitation to expand their syllabus to include biometry.

The Agriculture Faculty in The Africa University has a part time lecturer (I believe) who offers appropriate statistics courses to students.

The way forward

• There is an urgent need for faculty staff to be educated in the benefits of correct biometric procedures in their research and in the dangers of amateur dabbling.
• At the same time there needs to be a revision of the statistical curricula in all relevant university departments.
• A research network among biometricians, both practising biometricians in research and lecturers teaching applied biometrics in universities in the region covered by this workshop, would be beneficial. Many biometricians work in isolation and regular communication would help to bolster their confidence in the work they do and enable them to exchange experiences and ideas with others in the application of biometric methods. Organisational models that may be adopted for this purpose are, for example, the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLRN) that holds regular research workshops, and the Royal Statistical Society in the UK.