Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu [email protected]
GRADUATES from the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic in Gwanda have been urged to turn their skills into businesses and employment opportunities as Government intensifies efforts to promote entrepreneurship and industrialisation.
A total of 715 students graduated from the institution yesterday, with 391 from the Teacher Education Division and 324 from the Technical Education Division.
The ceremony marked the institution’s 44th graduation for teacher education and its 20th for technical education.
In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Simelisizwe Sibanda, Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Dr Frederick Shava said Zimbabwe’s ambition to become a prosperous and empowered upper-middle-income society by 2030 depended on producing skilled, innovative and technologically proficient citizens.
He urged graduates to go beyond acquiring qualifications and use their knowledge to solve problems, develop innovations and create opportunities.
“We need to be clear about what ‘shaping skilled human capital’ truly means. Skills are not only the ability to repeat what one has been shown. A science, technology and innovation-driven economy is built by people who can question, who can doubt, and who can think for themselves.
“It is built by people who are not afraid to make mistakes because they have learnt that every mistake is a lesson,” he said.
“Above all, it is built by people who understand something deeply enough to teach it to others. That is the kind of human capital this nation needs, and it is the kind this polytechnic strives to shape.”
Dr Shava said Government remained committed to ensuring that financial challenges did not prevent deserving students from accessing higher and tertiary education.
He said institutions were expected to embrace the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 philosophy by integrating teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialisation while producing goods and services.
Minister Shava commended the polytechnic for its agro-based projects, including a hatchery, horticulture, goat breeding and piggery, saying they supported food security, practical skills development, entrepreneurship and employment creation.
He also urged institutions of higher learning to adopt artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and strengthen the competitiveness of their innovations.
Dr Shava further commended the institution for implementing the Work-for-Fees Programme, which is supporting 50 students.
He said the initiative promoted equitable access to education while instilling the dignity of work, encouraging the institution to expand the programme so that capable students were not excluded because of financial constraints.
Acting college principal, Mrs Concelia Mswela said the institution continued to align its training programmes with the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 philosophy, which emphasises the integration of teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialisation.
She said the 715 graduates comprised 199 males and 516 females, representing 28 percent and 72 percent respectively.
Mrs Mswela said the Teacher Education Division recorded strong pass rates across its programmes, with the General Education intake achieving 98 percent and the Early Childhood Development intake recording a 100 percent pass rate.
The Secondary Sciences intake achieved a 96 percent pass rate, an improvement on the previous year’s 94 percent.
She said the Technical Education Division, which offers programmes in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Commerce, recorded an overall pass rate of 82 percent, up from 76 percent the previous year.
In a speech read on his behalf by Permanent Secretary for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mrs Latiso Dlamini-Maseko, Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial
Affairs and Devolution Cde Albert Nguluvhe said the province had significant potential to contribute to national economic growth through its agricultural and mineral resources.
“Institutions such as Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic have a key role to play in developing the skills needed to transform these resources into productive industries and contribute to our
country’s Gross Domestic Product,” he said.
The graduation ceremony was held under the theme, “Shaping Skilled Human Capital for a Science, Technology and Innovation-Driven Economy by 2030”.
Since its establishment in 1981 as Gwanda Zintec, the institution has expanded its training programmes, with the Technical Education Division introduced in 2004.
The polytechnic has reportedly produced 22 303 graduates, comprising 17 559 teachers and 4 717 technicians and artisans.
