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Nesia Mhaka Herald Correspondent

The country’s education system should result in the creation of industries and jobs, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister, Professor Amon Murwira has said.

Prof Murwira said this during the Harare Polytechnic graduation and prize giving ceremony yesterday.

“Modernisation and industrialisation has become our national strategic intent. The challenge is then to make sure we develop a national capability for this to happen.

“National capability lies in our education system and its design. Education has to be of the correct design, if it has to be fit for purpose. Additionally, this can also happen when our education and its underlying philosophy are sound. Our education has to work hard for us, it must produce industry for us and must create jobs for us,” he said.

Prof Murwira added that the country’s development needs required people with relevant skills and knowledge acquired through education.

“Our National Critical Skills Audit from December 2017 to April 2018 showed that although the national literacy rate is 94 percent, the national skills levels are at 38 percent.

“This is a result of the trajectory of literacy development that we followed for 38 years. While literacy is already a huge advantage, we now need to bridge the gap to transform knowledge into tangible goods and services by making sure that we now train relevant skills beyond the high literacy levels,” he said.

He urged the graduates to take advantage of the many opportunities in the country.

“Zimbabwe is full of possibilities. Every little problem that you see is a potential business. Never stop to try,” he added.

“Our Polytechnics shall evolve into centres of innovation and excellence in order to be relevant to the country’s industrialisation and modernisation agenda. Our graduates should innovate and create industry rather than be employment seekers,” he said.

A total of 3048 graduates received either a national certificate, national diploma or higher national diploma in automotive, civil, construction, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Other courses include information technology, applied arts, commerce, printing, science and technology, tourism and hospitality, office management and mass communication.

Almost half of the graduates, 1484, were female.