Online Reporter
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Zimpapers reporter
THE Government has warned that Zimbabwe’s economic growth ambitions risk being undermined by a widening mismatch between the skills produced by the education system and the demands of a rapidly evolving labour market.
Speaking at the Scholastica Conference held last Thursday at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC), Minister of Skills Audit and Development, Professor Paul Mavima, said the gap was already affecting productivity, innovation, competitiveness and inclusive growth. The event ran alongside the first stand-alone Scholastica Expo in over a decade.
“As we pursue our bold vision of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030, as envisioned by His Excellency, the President, Dr ED Mnangagwa, it is important that we craft, develop and implement strategies to address the mismatch between the skills our education system produces and the demands of our dynamic labour market,” he said.
Professor Mavima said his ministry, which was established to conduct comprehensive skills audits and design strategies to align training with economic needs, had undertaken countrywide consultations. These revealed a surplus of graduates in non-strategic areas, but serious shortages in critical growth sectors such as mining, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, digital technology and healthcare.
“What we discovered was sobering — a surplus of graduates in non-strategic areas and alarming shortages in sectors critical to growth,” said Professor Mavima.
He noted that in mining and manufacturing, the country is short of geologists, mining engineers, artisans and technicians. Agriculture requires expertise in modern agronomic practices, mechanisation and agribusiness, while the construction sector is struggling to find trained surveyors, civil engineers and skilled tradespeople.
The digital economy faces deficits in software developers, data analysts, cybersecurity specialists and AI practitioners. Healthcare is short of specialists in medical and health technologies.
“The consultations revealed major disconnects, including dilapidated infrastructure — particularly in technical and vocational education and training institutions — and a lack of collaboration between industry and education, which limits experiential learning. They also showed that much of our educational content does not reflect current industry technologies or future-facing competencies,” said Professor Mavima.
Professor Mavima stressed that the skills mismatch is not just a statistic, but a lived reality for thousands of graduates who cannot find decent jobs, industries unable to fill critical vacancies and ultimately, a missed opportunity for national progress.
To address these gaps, the minister said the Government is crafting a multi-pronged Skills Development Strategy. Measures include curriculum reform to embed Stem, entrepreneurship and digital literacy and repositioning TVET institutions as modern, aspirational career pathways.
The Government is also developing a labour market intelligence system to ensure training programmes are relevant and evidence-based.
The strategy will also strengthen collaboration between academia and industry to inform curriculum design, expand internships and workplace training, and align all education and training initiatives with a comprehensive National Skills Framework.
“As Government, we are taking decisive steps to ensure that Zimbabwe’s education and training systems become engines of inclusive growth, not obstacles to it.
“We are committed to implementing various measures, including building foundations for the future through curriculum reform and embedding Stem, entrepreneurship and digital literacy so that we nurture learners, who are not only literate but technologically skilled, financially savvy and creatively bold.
“We are repositioning our Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions as aspirational pathways to success. These institutions should be modernised, re-equipped, and reimagined to align with high-income career opportunities,” said Professor Mavima.
Professor Mavima cited international best practices such as Germany’s dual education system, Singapore’s SkillsFuture lifelong learning credits, Rwanda’s National Employment Programme, South Korea’s foresight planning for future skills, and Ethiopia’s prioritisation of TVET under its industrial policy.
“South Korea leverages foresight planning to anticipate future skill requirements in areas like robotics, artificial intelligence and green technologies. Ethiopia, in its Growth and Transformation Plan, prioritised Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as the cornerstone of its industrial policy. Our ultimate goal is to create a learning ecosystem where every graduate is not just employable, but empowered to create jobs, innovate boldly and drive inclusive development,” he said.
