Online Reporter
Precious Manomano-Herald Reporter
THE Government has challenged higher and tertiary education institutions to accelerate the commercialisation of research and innovation as Zimbabwe intensifies efforts to drive industrialisation, create jobs and transform communities in line with Vision 2030.
Speaking at the official opening of the Colleges Research Conference in Nyanga yesterday, Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Dr Frederick Shava said universities and colleges must move beyond generating knowledge and become centres of production, innovation and industrial development.
The conference brought together researchers, academics and students from teachers’ colleges, universities and polytechnic colleges across the country to present research findings and innovative solutions aimed at addressing national development challenges.
Participating institutions included Mutare Teachers’ College, Hillside Teachers’ College, Morgenster Teachers’ College, Bondolfi Teachers’ College, Hwange Teachers’ College and United College of Education, among others.
Dr Shava said tertiary institutions had a critical role to play in developing home-grown technologies, creating enterprises and providing practical solutions that address national challenges and support economic growth.
“Our institutions must cease to be mere consumers of imported technologies. They must become engines of production, generating solutions, technologies, enterprises and competitive industries.”
He said the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 concept had repositioned universities and colleges as key drivers of research, innovation, community service and industrialisation.
Dr Shava said research should focus on solving challenges affecting communities, including food security, agriculture, health, mining, manufacturing, energy and digital transformation.
He urged institutions to establish innovation hubs, industrial parks, technology transfer centres and incubation facilities to support the commercialisation of research outputs and strengthen collaboration between academia, industry and communities.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Hillside Teachers’ College principal and conference coordinator Dr Sifelani Javangwe said the gathering marked a significant shift towards collaborative and transformative research among teachers’ colleges.
Dr Javangwe said nine teachers’ colleges came together to harness diverse expertise and generate research that delivers practical solutions to national development challenges.
“We want to move away from the traditional model where research findings are merely stored on shelves with recommendations that are never implemented. Our focus now is on transformative research that results in goods, services and practical solutions that can benefit communities and industries,” he said.
The director of Science and Technology at Licungo University in Mozambique, Mr Alberto Charrua, said the partnership between his institution and Mutare Teachers’ College would strengthen collaboration and advance transformative education in both countries.
Tertiary Education Service Council manager for Human Capital Planning and Skills Development, Mr Elisha Ndanga, commended the initiative by nine teachers’ colleges to jointly host the conference.
