Patrick Chitumba [email protected]
GOVERNMENT will establish a vocational training centre in Mberengwa District to expand access to technical education and equip young people with practical skills for employment, entrepreneurship and industrialisation.
Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister Tino Machakaire announced the planned development at the fourth Midlands Province Joint Vocational Training Centres Graduation and Prize-Giving Ceremony held at Kaguvi Training Centre in Gweru yesterday.
He said Mberengwa was the only district in the province without a vocational training centre, Minister Machakaire said the Government was committed to ensuring that young people could access skills training regardless of their location.
“Mberengwa remains the only district in the Midlands Province without a vocational training centre and we are going to look into that to ensure we build one. Our goal is to ensure that every young person in the province has access to quality vocational education and training wherever they reside,” he said.
The planned centre comes as the Government intensifies efforts to develop a skilled workforce capable of supporting industrialisation, innovation and economic growth under Vision 2030.
The minister said vocational training centres should go beyond awarding certificates and become hubs for innovation, production and enterprise development.
“Vocational training centres must move beyond producing graduates with certificates to becoming hubs of innovation, production and enterprise creation in line with the Second Republic’s development agenda,” he said.
The ceremony saw 641 graduates, comprising 401 males and 240 females, completing their training in various vocational disciplines.
Minister Machakaire commended the female graduates for pursuing vocational skills, traditionally associated with male-dominated industries and encouraged them to take up opportunities in different sectors of the economy.
“I wish to commend in particular the 240 female graduates who have demonstrated that young women have a vital role to play in vocational skills development and the growth of our economy. I encourage them to take their place with confidence in industries and enterprises that have traditionally been dominated by men,” he said.
Running under the theme, “Skills, Enterprise, Digitalisation: Our Pathway to Vision 2030,” the ceremony highlighted the importance of equipping young people with technical, entrepreneurial and digital skills to support national development.
Minister Machakaire said the Government was transforming the education and training system under Heritage-Based Education 5.0, which emphasises innovation, industrialisation, production and the development of solutions to challenges facing communities.
“Our vocational training centres must therefore be more than institutions that issue certificates; they must become centres where skills are converted into products, services, businesses and employment opportunities,” he said.
Minister Machakaire said youth empowerment and vocational training remained central to the country’s development ambitions under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which seeks to advance Zimbabwe towards upper-middle-income status by 2030.
As part of efforts to extend digital skills to rural communities, Minister Machakaire said his ministry had established its first rural Artificial Intelligence, Digital and Innovation Hub at Nyamuroro Vocational
Training Centre in Gokwe North, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme.
The hub is expected to give young people opportunities to acquire digital skills, access information, develop innovative solutions and establish enterprises that respond to emerging economic opportunities.
The minister said access to finance was equally important in helping graduates turn their skills into sustainable businesses.
Minister Machakaire urged graduates to take advantage of youth empowerment financing facilities available through EmpowerBank and called on training institutions to strengthen partnerships with the private sector to expand access to industrial attachment, apprenticeships, mentorship, equipment, technology and markets.
He also urged parents, communities and training institutions to intensify efforts to combat drug and substance abuse, warning that the problem threatened young people’s future and their contribution to national development.
Minister Machakaire said graduates should apply their skills to economic opportunities available in their communities, contributing to value addition, beneficiation and the growth of provincial economies.
He said the approach was consistent with resolutions adopted at the 23rd ZANU PF National People’s Conference in Chinhoyi, which called for human capital development to leverage local economic resources and opportunities in support of devolution and decentralisation.
Addressing the same ceremony, Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Owen Ncube said the graduation supported the national development agenda under NDS2, particularly its focus on science, technology, digitalisation, innovation and human capital development.
“The ceremony reflects the Second Republic’s drive to modernise and industrialise the economy through Heritage-Based Education 5.0, which integrates teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialisation,” he said.
A graduate from the engineering department, Mr Tom Moyo, said the ceremony highlighted the importance of linking vocational education with enterprise development, digital innovation and industrial growth.
Chief Gambia commended the Government for establishing vocational training centres, saying they were producing graduates equipped to create their own employment opportunities in areas such as building, carpentry and agriculture.
“I am grateful to the Second Republic because we have our children coming out as builders, artisans who are engaged in socio-economic development in their respective areas,” he said.
