Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]
ZIMBABWEAN youths have been challenged to move from being job seekers to become producers, innovators and entrepreneurs who can drive the country’s economic transformation towards Vision 2030.
Speaking during an ideological orientation programme in Gweru organised by the Zimbabwe Council of Students Unions (Zicosu) through the Chitepo School of Ideology, Minister of State for
Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Owen Ncube said youths needed to be equipped with skills, discipline and ideological grounding to play a meaningful role in national development.
Held under the theme “Guarding the Present, Guiding the Future”, the programme focused on equipping students with an understanding of national development priorities and their role in supporting economic transformation.
Minister Ncube said the programme dovetailed with the Second Republic’s development agenda,
particularly the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) focus on job creation.
“The theme dovetails with the Second Republic’s vision to build ideologically grounded, skilled and disciplined cadres as underpinned by the NDS2 pillar on job creation. Our young people must be prepared not only to seek opportunities, but to create them,” he said.
“Government will continue supporting skills development, innovation, entrepreneurship and other programmes that enable the youth to become producers and contribute to the growth of our economy.”
Minister Ncube said young people had a crucial role to play in translating Government policies and programmes into tangible economic activity as Zimbabwe pursues the attainment of an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.
“With young people forming a major proportion of the country’s population, their participation in skills development, innovation, entrepreneurship, employment creation and productive sectors of the economy is viewed as critical to the attainment of Vision 2030,” he said.
Zicosu vice-president Ms Ruvimbo Nyadenga said young people needed to understand the country’s development trajectory and identify the role they could play in achieving national aspirations.
“The theme is guarding the present, guiding the future; we need to be correctly aligned and understand the role we have to play in the attainment of Vision 2030. Every child can play a role in different programmes and we continue to see our Government supporting us through policy, moving away from theory to practice,” she said.
Ms Nyadenga said ideological orientation was important in helping students understand national priorities and preparing them to participate meaningfully in the country’s development.
Zanu-PF Central Committee member Cde Wellington Magura said the youth were central to both national development and the continuity of the ruling party.
“The youth are central to the continuity of the party and the development of the country. We therefore need young people who understand the ideology, appreciate the direction of the nation and are prepared to take responsibility in building Zimbabwe,” he said.
Cde Magura said the engagement reinforced the call for young Zimbabweans to move beyond being job seekers and become producers, innovators and entrepreneurs who contribute to economic growth and national development.
