Govt to help learners patent innovations

Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter

Students will get financial support and general assistance from the Government to patent their innovations to promote technology-driven solutions that push sustainable economic development, Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Torerayi Moyo, has said.

He was speaking during a media conference at the ministry’s pavilion at the just-ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo.

Minister Moyo commended the high level of innovation exhibited by young people across the country, especially those at school.

The media briefing was held in conjunction with the Education Coalition of Zimbabwe, as the ministry celebrated the Global Action Week for Education under the theme: “Transformative education”.

Minister Moyo said the Government has made a lot of strides and reforms in terms of curriculum implementation, having introduced the Heritage-Based Curriculum to ensure that the education provided leads to sustainable economic development.

“During this week, we are also showcasing the type of education that we are providing, where we want learners to think outside the box. We want them to have critical thinking skills,” said the minister.

“They are supposed to address challenges and try to address those through research. One of the key themes is to ensure that learners are innovative and during this week we want to celebrate efforts what the Government of Zimbabwe under President Mnangagwa has done as far as reforming the education system is concerned,” he added.

“Our learners are so innovative and have produced a number of innovative patents, which we will ensure that we protect as intellectual property.

“We are going to ensure that resources are available so that the innovations are going to be registered with the Deeds Office to ensure that the knowledge is not stolen from those learners,” said Minister Moyo.

He said the Government would facilitate financial support from Treasury to ensure that the innovations are not only prototype projects but businesses that can lead to sustainable development, industrialisation and modernisation, which in the long run will provide goods and services that are needed by people.

Minister Moyo said the Government has always been supporting transformation to quality, equitable and inclusive education and deliberately provides financial support.

In the 2024 Budget, Government prioritised education and gave the ministry 18 percent of the budget, inching close to the Dakar Declaration of 20 percent.

Minister Moyo said the idea is to transform education so that the type of learners produced can be job creators by the time they complete their education.

He said the Government will also forge ahead with efforts to capacitate schools and bridge the gap between urban and rural schools.

New schools will be built and old institutions modernised, while efforts to equip learners with digital technology and gadgets continue, said Minister Moyo.

“We are going to roll out gadgets as a ministry, starting in 2025 but that will be a gradual process as we are geared to ensure that we provide e-learning facilities even in areas without Internet through servers, as a way of improving the quality of education,” he said.

“We are going to provide financial support to our learners so that they can come up with businesses.”

Some of the learners were exhibiting prototype machines and products including tick chemicals, smart bin, heavy-duty sanitiser machines, robotic cleaning machines, security systems, carpet cleaners, multi- purpose cleaning robots, among others.