Prosper Dembedza Herald Reporter
HIGHER and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Dr Olivia Muchena yesterday said her ministry will prioritise initiatives that expand work opportunities for college leavers to spur growth and job creation. Opening a strategic planning workshop for the ministry in Harare, Dr Muchena said her ministry will focus more and align all its priorities as outlined in the Zanu-PF manifesto.

The Zanu-PF 2013 manifesto dubbed: “Taking Back the Economy,” aimed to “Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment.”
She said universities, polytechnics and colleges around the country should come up with initiatives that promote, drive and improve employment for college leavers to address joblessness, one the major problems facing the country.

“As we go about re-organising this critical sector our policies must be oriented towards the goals of indigenisation and economic empowerment of our people,” Dr Muchena said.

“This is the centre-piece of our manifesto. This is what the people voted for and it must become the centre-piece of our endeavours. We must not let the people down.

“Zanu-PF won a resounding mandate to execute its manifesto which in brief is to indigenise, empower, develop and create employment and this is where we are deriving our mandate from.”

Minister Muchena urged workshop participants to develop a strategic direction for the ministry, guided by the ruling party’s manifesto.
“Our sectoral question is, what is the role and unique contribution of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development Ministry in the process of indigenisation, empowerment, development and employment creation,” she said.

“We need to have that mandate as a centre-piece and we take our strategic direction from it as we go on with our process of integration.”
She said heads of departments under her ministry should be confident about themselves first to achieve the ministry’s goals and objectives.
“We must believe in ourselves in order to achieve our goals and objectives.

What better instrument can we use than higher and tertiary education to make people believe in themselves that they can indigenise empower, develop, create employment than education,” she said.
She also spoke highly about the country’s literacy levels and human capital development that has seen most Zimbabweans getting top jobs across the world.

The country, she said, needed to tap into this pool of talent to develop the nation.

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