Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) is an open distance education university in Zimbabwe. Established in 1999, ZOU is the only distance education university in the country. Student enrollment at ZOU has been growing steadily from the time of its formation and in terms of enrollment it is the largest university in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Open University has seven faculties under which the academic programmes are conducted. History After independence, the Government of Zimbabwe adopted a policy of education for all. To address the need for high skilled manpower the 5 Year National Development Plan (1991–1995) stated: The University of Zimbabwe, which was the single university in the country at that time, could not cope with the demand for university education. Two commissions were established: the Williams Commission (1981) and the Zimbabwe Open University Feasibility Study (1986). In July 1994, a committee was formed to investigate the development of university distance education. The commission recommended that there is need for distance education at university level to upgrade skills and "to provide a continuing education facility for the adult population". Based on these recommendations the Centre for Distance Education (CDE) of the University of Zimbabwe was formed in 1993. In 1996, it became the University College of Distance Education (UCDE) and finally renamed to Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) on March 1, 1999 by an Act of Parliament. The first Vice-Chancellor was Professor Peter Dzvimbo. Below is a table showing student enrolment in the Zimbabwe Open University from 1999 to 2017: The year 2001 marked the increase of the enrollment figures to 23,161. It was because Commerce degrees were introduced that year. There was a decline in student enrollment in 2002 because some found independent learning difficult and many students faced economic difficulties. In 2003, a total of 19,228 students were enrolled in the university which constituted 46.9% of the total university enrolment in the country. According to 2006 estimates, approximately 20,000 students are enrolled in the university which makes it the largest university in Zimbabwe. Vision and mission According to the website of the university, ZOU's vision is the "VISION To be the university of choice in open and distance learning MISSION Empowering the world through high quality open and distance learning enabled by technology 2018". The core ideology of the university is "to develop a best-practice enterprise-culture-based open and distance learning university focused on influencing development and change". ZOU's website states its