Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]
MORE than 200 jobs have been created through a partnership between Midlands State University (MSU) and Bata Shoe Company in Gweru, which produces about 1 800 shoe uppers daily while equipping students with practical footwear manufacturing skills.
The partnership is turning Education 5.0 philosophy into industrial production, linking university training with commercial manufacturing as Zimbabwe pushes to build a knowledge-driven economy under Vision 2030.
MSU Enterprise executive director Ms Patience Mangwiro said the partnership demonstrates how universities can transform innovation and technical knowledge into viable businesses while creating employment.
“We are innovating and industrialising those innovations. We have the Bata ABU, a public-private partnership, where we do the upstream process,” she said.
“It is a testament that we are not just learning, but also creating employment. We have about 200 employees under this enterprise. Through this partnership, we produce around 1 800 shoe uppers per day while creating opportunities for skills development and employment.”
Ms Mangwiro said students gained hands-on experience in industrial stitching and footwear production, bridging the gap between classroom learning and the demands of industry.
“The arrangement also brings together technical skills developed within the university and Bata’s commercial expertise, production requirements and supply-chain networks,” she said.
Bata Shoe Company managing director Mr Simon Mutisya said the company had outsourced some services to MSU to strengthen skills development and prepare young people for the world of work.
“We have outsourced some of the services recently to MSU to promote training, develop skills and prepare young people for industry. The whole thing is premised on empowering communities,” he said.
The partnership offers a practical example of Education 5.0, which places research, innovation, industrialisation, entrepreneurship and community engagement alongside teaching and learning.
Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Owen Ncube said MSU’s 26 years of advancement in science, technology and innovation resonated with the Government’s Education 5.0 thrust and national industrialisation agenda.
“Midlands State University’s 26 years of ground-breaking advancement in Science, Technology and Innovation resonates with the Second Republic, under the visionary leadership of President Mnangagwa’s Heritage-Based Education 5.0 and the innovation, modernisation and industrialisation agenda underpinned by the NDS2 pillar on Science, Technology, Digital, Innovation and Human Capital Development, which advocates for a knowledge-driven and digitally enabled economy,” said Minister Ncube.
He commended MSU and other higher and tertiary institutions for turning research into commercially viable enterprises.
“I commend Midlands State University and other higher and tertiary institutions in our motherland Zimbabwe for embracing the New Dispensation’s core philosophy of innovation centres showcased through tangible and impactful commercialisation of industrial parks, strategic business units and innovation hubs anchored on research and development as we glide towards a resource-based and knowledge-driven upper-middle-income economy by 2030,” he said.
Minister Ncube said education had to create value beyond the classroom.
“The economy of any nation is as good as its education system. As we are aware, knowledge is generated in our classrooms, laboratories, studios and research centres and institutes. However, knowledge acquires greater meaning when it moves beyond the university and responds to the needs of society,” he said.
“The responsibility of the university therefore goes beyond generating knowledge, but to ensure that this knowledge creates value and makes a tangible difference in the lives of our people.”
He said the growth of university industrial parks and innovation hubs was supported by the economic environment created by the Second Republic.
“The resounding achievements recorded in our higher and tertiary institutions’ industrial parks and innovation hubs are grounded in the enabling and conducive micro and macro-economic environment created by the Second Republic,” said Minister Ncube.
The MSU-Bata partnership comes as Zimbabwe seeks to turn universities into engines of innovation, entrepreneurship and industrial production, supporting Vision 2030 through skills development, value addition and job creation.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has emphasised the importance of skills development, entrepreneurship and innovation in creating opportunities for young people.
“Initiatives that ensure skills development, entrepreneurship, innovation and employment creation will be pursued for our young people in both rural and urban areas. Focus will remain on uplifting the quality of life and service delivery for all communities. No one will be left behind,” he said.
