Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Sunday News Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Army Commander, Lieutenant-General Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi has described education as key to unlocking Zimbabwe’s potential and transforming it into an upper middle income economy by 2030.
Speaking on Friday at the ZNA Schools’ Sports and Merit Awards held at Induna High School on the outskirts of Bulawayo where all army schools in the country contested in sport, drills and academics, Lt Gen Tapfumaneyi said the importance of education in driving development in any country can never be overemphasised.
He said the army has a constitutional mandate to provide an enabling environment for the attainment of Vision 2030.
“This year’s merit awards are running under the theme, “ZNA schools, unlocking the heritage based curriculum through utilisation of indigenous knowledge, resources and culture.
The theme resonates well with Zimbabwe’s Vision 203 where education is mandated to transform Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy by 2030.
Education is the main driver of creating an upper middle income economy by 2030, the driver of that being focus on human capital skills, use of local resources and innovation,” said Lt Gen Tapfumaneyi.
He said ZNA is a role model in demonstrating the use of locally based human resources to solve local challenges.
The Commander said the Zimbabwe Defence Forces will hand over a number of community assisted projects.
“As the Defence Forces we will demonstrate to the nation that without local human skills and innovation, education and development cannot be meaningful.
“It is through our influence that the thrust on the educational curriculum should be on our national heritage. I therefore exhort you as teachers to pursue research programmes through our academic institutions on how local resources can be innovated, resulting in value addition of our products,” said the Commander.
He described the awards as a positive reinforcement that ensures that the behaviour of producing good results either in class or at the sports field is repeated.
Sport, he said, assists at instilling discipline.
“The emphasis on sports is aimed at instilling discipline among learners. Discipline is the most important attribute that we consider on the ZNA recruitment criteria. By supporting sport, the Zimbabwe National Army is investing in a recruitment base for a disciplined, physically fit, mentally alert and highly skilled force,” said Lt-Gen Tapfumaneyi.
He said sport helps the body and mind to stay healthy and meaningfully occupied. They are distracted from social evils such as drug and substance abuse which have become a menace in societies.
“As the ZNA, we have declared zero tolerance to drug and substance abuse,” said Commander of ZNA.
He encouraged those that did not make to the podium to keep working hard to excel in the future, quoting Vincent Lombardi who once said: “Winners Never Quit And Quitters Never Win.”
The Commander also commended army schools for attaining good results in public examinations.
Grade Sevens had a pass rate of 96,58 percent against a national mark of 48,49, at Ordinary Level 65.23 percent in comparison to a Zimbabwe score of 35,26 and 100 percent at A-level when the country had a 95.75.
“I sincerely thank the teaching staff for a job well done by producing these outstanding academic performances,” he said adding that they will continue to add infrastructure to existing schools.
He commended the Army Education Corps for initiating income generating projects.
“The Directorate of Army Education is highly commended for introducing income generating projects in schools, a development that is in line with the Heritage Based Education 5.0 Policy. The aim is to produce self-reliant learners with entrepreneurial skills,” he said.
ZNA after realising effects of global warming and erratic rainfall patterns, the Zimbabwe National Army Schools Welfare Trust installed solar powered boreholes at their schools.
