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IT is saddening to learn that at least 300 000 students are reportedly churned out of colleges and universities every year to join their colleagues hunting for employment. The reality is that the majority do not secure the jobs and it’s disheartening to discover that thousands end up pursuing trades they did not specialise in. It is, therefore, long overdue that the country’s education system be overhauled for it to respond to industrial, agricultural and social sectors as highlighted by the Nziramasanga Commission of Enquiry into the education sector.

Zimbabwe’s economy has been revolutionised and there is no need for our colleges and universities to continue producing graduates yearning to be employed by the white employer.
New graduates ready to create jobs for themselves in various sectors of the economy as more opportunities are created by Government should be produced.

Vast opportunities have been created in the agriculture sector and the agro-business, while new and more lucrative ones are being created in the mining and manufacturing sectors.
It is intriguing that Government will today start some countrywide consultations on the nation’s education curriculum before drafting a new education policy that focuses more on science and mathematics for the socio-cultural transformation and technological development of the country.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Dr Lazarus Dokora, made the remarks while presenting a paper on “Education for Social Transformation and Development” to senior officers from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the President’s Office and officers from Sadc at the National Defence College.

Surely, there is no need for our youths to continue learning about the European History such as the French Revolution that some of the schools in these Western countries have since abandoned.

We need our education sector to be overhauled so that it imparts in students life skills, and expose them to scientific knowledge for socio-economic development. The agriculture revolution needs people who will come up with solutions to boost our agricultural output.

We need more inventors of simple agriculture inputs such as new disease-resistant seed varieties that are also drought tolerant, some simple and cheap farming implements for our farmers as well as finding new cost effective mining techniques for our artisanal miners.

No white businessman and inventors are going to do that for Zimbabweans except our sons and daughters.
This can only be achieved if our children are taught the right education that will help them drive the country’s economy into the future.

As the country prepares for the launch of the new education system, there is need to build schools equipped with modern infrastructure to accommodate ICT, vocational and technical subjects, while the old ones should be renovated to retool them with the latest science education.

Thanks to President Mugabe who has already set the ball rolling by donating computers to the schools, Zimbabwean children will soon be computer wizards as they are introduced to the ITCs at an early age.