The School started off as the Zimbabwe Institute of Mass Communication (ZIMCO) soon after independence (1980) as a result of combined efforts between the Government of Zimbabwe and the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), making it the oldest journalism training institution in the country. Following the exodus of white journalists and the end of the Smith regime, the institution was set up to train journalists who would fill up vacated posts in Zimbabwean newspapers and broadcast institutions. A project involving the International Press Institute (IPI) was quickly devised to provide a six-month training course in journalism basics. The institute offered a one-year certificate course in news agency journalism, radio production, technical operations, newspaper journalism and mass communication.  The institution operated under the supervision of the Ministry of Information and later the Ministry of Manpower Planning and Development. It was a creation o the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) whose Board superintended over the institute’s operations working with an Advisory Committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Manpower Planning, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), the Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency (ZIANA), Zimbabwe Newspapers (ZIMPAPERS), and Mambo Press. At the beginning of 1983, the Institute was transferred to the Ministry of Manpower Planning and Development and assigned to Harare Polytechnic. At the Harare Polytechnic, the Institute became known as the Division of Mass Communication, with the Institute’s director Ezekiel Makunike assuming the title of Head of Division. Other individuals who were instrumental in the growth of the Division of Mass Communication include Mr Chen Chimutengwende, Mrs Sekai Holland, Mr Stanley Nyahwa, Mr Evans Makondo, Mr Gerald Siwela, and Mr Timothy Mutero Nyahunzvi. At the Polytechnic, the Division organised its work around two major areas: Print Journalism and Broadcast Journalism. The division continued to grow over the intervening years. In 2014, the Division was renamed the School of Journalism and Mass Communication started a one-year National Certificate Course in Mass Communication and recruited students with O’ level qualifications. Prior to this, the entry qualification was A’ level. This extended the process of attaining a National Diploma in Journalism to four years, including a one-year attachment period. In 2018 Harare Polytechnic School of Journalism and Mass Communication was granted approval to start a Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism but implementation has been delayed due to logistical arrangements.