Social work is a helping profession that ensures that people are assisted economically,

socially and mentally. In Zimbabwe social work is a relevant profession. However,

professional social work regulation is poor in Zimbabwe and this affects the relevance of the
profession in the sense that the government is employing unskilled probation workers, there
is no proper assessment of fitness of practice that is being done in the social work profession
more will be mentioned. In the essay below the main focal point is to analyse how the
professional social work regulation is poor in Zimbabwe and how this affects the relevance of
the profession.

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country that is located in the southern region of Africa and has
recognised social work as an art profession that supports social development and
change(International Federation of Social Workers 2014). Social work is relevant in
Zimbabwe which means that it has a meaningful impact and purpose in the country of
helping people.

Professional social work regulation is poor in Zimbabwe and this affects the relevance of the
profession in the sense that the government is employing unregistered social workers. This
makes the professional social work regulation poor in the sense that people will be attended
by people who are not qualified to be social workers (Kaseke, E. 2001. Social work education
in Zimbabwe: Strengths and weaknesses, issues and challenges. Social Work Education:
International Journal 20 (1) 101-109). For one to be a social worker they have to be registered
by the Council of Social Workers in Zimbabwe and they should have either a degree or
diploma in social work. Hence affects the relevance of the profession.

Furthermore, lack of a critical mass makes the professional social work regulation poor in
Zimbabwe and this affects the relevance of the profession. In the early 60s a few people
enrolled in the School of Social Work. However that has changed for there are now more
Schools of Social Work and many people are being enrolled for the course of social work.
Though this is a great cause there is still a lack of a critical mass because some of the social
workers are unemployed and others have emigrated to the diaspora (Chidyausiku, W &
Bohwasi, P. 2021. Social work regulation in Zimbabwe. In V. Mabvurira, A. Fahrudin & E
Mtetwa (eds) Professional social work in Zimbabwe, past Present and the future (pp 29-51).
Harare: National Association of Social Workers of Zimbabwe). This has affected the
relevance of the profession hence making the professional social work regulation poor in
Zimbabwe.

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Incompetency makes the professional social work regulation poor in Zimbabwe and this
affects the relevance of the profession in the sense that for one to be called a social worker
they have to obtain a practice certificate from the Council of Social Workers in Zimbabwe.
This practice certificate should be renewed every year. However, people tend to forget to
renew their practice certificates and this makes them incompetent. This practice certificate is
renewed every year as a way of protecting and renewing members through a set of
examinations and tests go to show that they have improved (International Federation of
Social Workers (IFSW) and The International Association of Schools of Social Work
(IASSW) 2004. Global standards for the education and Training of the Social Work
professions. Document.).

More so, lack of political will is making the professional social work regulation poor in
Zimbabwe and this is affecting the relevance of the profession. The government does not
value the profession of social work as people who are being appointed as Ministers of Social
Welfare are not social workers. It has been revealed in the past that an engineer was once the
Minister of Social Welfare (Bohwasi, P. M., and Chidyausiku, W. (2021). The Zimbabwean
model of social work regulation: process, Achievements and challenges. African Journal of
Social Work, 11(5), 322-333). This has affected the profession in the sense that if a person
who is not a social worker is put in the field they will not have any clue about the profession
because they never studied the profession and they do not know what is required of them.
This shows that the professional social work regulation is poor in Zimbabwe.

The training and education of social work has made the professional social work regulation
poor in Zimbabwe. This is affecting the relevance of the profession in the sense that many
lectures and professors that teach the course are emigrating due to the economic situation of
Zimbabwe. This is making it difficult for universities to teach the social work course
(Mupedziswa, R. And Ushamba, A. (2006), “Challenges and Prospects: Social Work Practice
in Zimbabwe in an Environment of Economic Meltdown”, In Hall, N. (ed) Social Work:
Making a world of Difference. Geneva: IFSW and FAFO, pp 45-55).

The economy of country is also making the professional social work regulation poor. This is
so because many social workers are unemployed and they are moving out of the country for
greener pastures. This is affecting the relevance of the profession in Zimbabwe in the sense
that there is a shortage of social workers (Pasura, D. (2008), “Gendering the Diaspora:

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Zimbabwean Migrants in Britain, African Diaspora”, A Journal of Transnational Africa in a
Global World Vol. 1No.1/2 pp.86-109).

Professional social work regulation is poor in Zimbabwe and this affects the relevance of the
profession in the sense that there is lack of supervision and support. This happens mostly
when social work students are on attachment. They are not assessed by their lectures and the
Council of Social Workers does not do a follow up once these students have graduated. This
affects the relevance of the profession as the people will not be deserving of the title of social
workers for they will not be trained well (Dziro, C. (2013). Trends in social work education
and training: The case of Zimbabwe. International Journal of Development and
Sustainability, 2(2), 1423-1435).

Financial constraints also makes the professional social work regulation poor in Zimbabwe
and this affects the relevance of the profession. This is so because social workers pay less
renewal fees per year. For instance if they are paying two or three United States dollars per
year as a renewal fee it is not enough for the council hence this results in financial constraint
to host workshops (Council of Social Workers. (2017). Remarks by Council of Social
Workers Chairperson on 29 April, 2017, at Dzimbabwe Lodge. Goromonzi, Harare:
Zimbabwe). This affects the relevance of the profession as there will be shortage of funds to
implement workshops or do compliance visits thus this makes the professional social work
regulation poor in Zimbabwe.

Moreover, brain drain makes the professional social work regulation poor in Zimbabwe. The
profession is suffering because of the movements done by social workers out of the country
because of political and economic difficulties. This happened between 2000 and 2008 when
the executive of the NASW-Z relocated in search of greener pastures. This is still an issue
even in the present day. Many social workers are leaving for the UK and only a few are left
behind (National Association of Social Workers – Zimbabwe (NASW-Z). (2017). This
affects the relevance of the profession as there will be less social workers in the country.

In conclusion, professional social work regulation is poor in Zimbabwe and this affects the
relevance of the profession in the sense that social workers are unable to follow the proper
regulations that were assigned by the Council of Social Workers for instance social workers
are practising without their practice certificates. The training and education of social work in
Zimbabwe is deteriorating because of lecturers that are emigrating to find greener pastures.
More so, students of social work lack supervision when they are on attachments thus making

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them incompetent. However, nowadays the Council of Social Workers is doing follow ups on
all schools of Social Work to ensure that all regulations are followed and the social work
profession is now a relevant profession in Zimbabwe

REFERENCE LIST

Kaseke, E. 2001. Social work education in Zimbabwe: Strengths and weaknesses, issues and
challenges. Social Work Education: International Journal 20 (1) 101-109.

Chidyausiku, W & Bohwasi, P. 2021. Social work regulation in Zimbabwe. In V. Mabvurira,

A. Fahrudin & E Mtetwa (eds) Professional social work in Zimbabwe, past Present and the
future (pp 29-51). Harare: National Association of Social Workers of Zimbabwe.

International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and The International Association of

Schools of Social Work (IASSW) 2004.

Bohwasi, P. M., and Chidyausiku, W. (2021). The Zimbabwean model of social work
regulation: process, Achievements and challenges. African Journal of Social Work, 11(5),
322-333.

Mupedziswa, R. And Ushamba, A. (2006), “Challenges and Prospects: Social Work Practice
in Zimbabwe in an Environment of Economic Meltdown”, In Hall, N. (ed) Social Work:
Making a world of Difference. Geneva: IFSW and FAFO, pp 45-55.

Pasura, D. (2008), “Gendering the Diaspora: Zimbabwean Migrants in Britain, African

Diaspora”, A Journal of Transnational Africa in a Global World Vol. 1No.1/2 pp.86-109.

Dziro, C. (2013). Trends in social work education and training: The case of Zimbabwe.
International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 2(2), 1423-1435.

Council of Social Workers. (2017). Remarks by Council of Social Workers Chairperson on

29 April, 2017, at Dzimbabwe Lodge. Goromonzi, Harare: Zimbabwe.

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National Association of Social Workers – Zimbabwe (NASW-Z). (2017). Report Compiled
by NASW-Z and submitted to the Department of Social Services. Theme:Learning visit to
Zimbabwe of the Social Workers Association of Zambia (SWAZ) On the 24 th of July to 28th
of July 2017, Harare, Zimbabwe.