Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike
Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT’S Education 5.0 model is yielding positive results for institutions of higher learning, with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development having retooled 14 institutions without using funds from its national budget allocation.
The Education 5.0 policy framework was launched in 2020 as part of the Second Republic’s commitment to transform higher education from a theoretical approach to one focused on the production of goods and services.
The model seeks to promote competition, modernise the economy and move beyond traditional education systems.
It is also aimed at finding home-grown solutions and driving industrialisation through innovation hubs at institutions of higher learning.
A director in the Ministry, Mrs Memory Mukondomi, revealed this while giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education on the Ministry’s 2025 Third and Fourth Quarter Budget Performance Report at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
Mrs Mukondomi said the Ministry utilised ZiG3 255 646.171, representing about 33 percent of the budget allocation for the third quarter of 2025.
She said the high performance recorded, despite relatively low budget utilisation, was a result of a combination of structural and operational factors.
“The Ministry utilised the complemented resources beyond the Treasury allocations in line with the Education 5.0 philosophy, which emphasises the production of goods and services that fuel development,” she said.
Mrs Mukondomi cited Midlands State University and Bindura University of Science Education among institutions benefiting from the initiative.
She said innovation hubs had enabled institutions to raise funds for the improvement of infrastructure and training facilities.
“It was on how the Ministry retooled the laboratories and developed 14 teaching infrastructure projects without expending any funds on the acquisition of fixed assets,” she said.
“We are saying the Ministry has achieved retooling laboratories and developing more teaching infrastructure through the purchase of consumer goods using institutions’ own resources, pending Treasury release of funds.
“We also upgraded, refurbished and rehabilitated existing facilities, rather than new positions.”
Mrs Mukondomi cited Masvingo Polytechnic, Bondolfi Teachers College, Madziwa Teachers College, JM Nkomo Polytechnic College, Kushinga Phikelela, Mutare Teachers College, Nyadire Teachers College and Morgan Zintec among the institutions that benefited.
