Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Government has set in motion plans to start retooling Vocational Training Centres (VTCs) in the country so that they remain relevant as an essential cog and a cornerstone of economic development that fits modern-day facilities in the age of Heritage-Based Education 5.0 whose import is on technical education and skills.
It is also moving to ensure that the institutions have a wider reach by taking their services to rural areas to ensure no one and no place is left behind in line with President Mnangagwa’s call to end marginalisation.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony at Westgate Industrial Training College in Bulawayo, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Simelisizwe Sibanda said VTCs were so much alive and relevant in the country’s pursuit of an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
“Vocational Training Centres are fully functional in the country and we are making plans to replace obsolete machinery. We are reaching out to our young people who are interested in skills training and a good number have been taking up the challenge. We are getting students at the centres and they go out with skills that enable them to make an honest living with some going further to be employers. We are focusing on going a step further to try and reach out to the remote areas so that prospective students are fully aware that there are such institutions.
“We are therefore stepping up our awareness campaigns. But I must say that in terms of utilisation we are doing our best,” said Deputy Minister Sibanda.
He said they were looking for resources to start re-equipping and remodelling the workshops.
“In terms of re-equipping the workshops, there is a need for that because the machinery and equipment that we have is outdated, so there is a need to remodel them so that we have the latest machinery, but we are doing fine with what is currently available,” he added.
The deputy minister said training colleges were taking the lead in hands-on training that was essential to industrial growth.
“This is where practical lessons are done. They do not wait for industrial attachment to get experience but they start when they enrol at the training centres. They have access to the workshops where they do the practical work.”
He said the placement of Westgate VTC close to the industrial sites of Bulawayo was good in that it presented the students with less distance to walk to certain industries where they can see certain machinery or certain operations that they needed to see that could assist them.
In terms of costs, he said they have always made sure that the fees were affordable and hinted that the work-for-fees concept could be employed when the situation demands that.
“The work-for-fees programme is for tertiary institutions students who have problems paying their fees. It is self-targeting such that the institutions cannot go around advertising for students to work for their fees. Those that are really needy go forward and get assisted without compromising its objectives. There are assessments that are done to check if we are targeting the right people,” he added.
Deputy Minister Sibanda told the graduates last week that they have a responsibility to develop Zimbabwe.
“There is no one who can come from another country and make Zimbabwe great. It is you and I, Zimbabweans, who can make our lives better, who can improve our situation. If our education results in the production of goods and services, then we shall be able to satisfy our needs, and the needs of our people, leading to an improved quality of life and the restoration of dignity.
“Our people need solutions to their challenges, and as graduates, you need to come up with the answers to the gaps that are in our society. We should come up with new innovations so that you make a difference in the lives of the communities,” he added. -@NyembeziMu
Bongani Ndlovu