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Kamangeni Phiri Midlands Bureau
Teachers have been urged to play a leading role as agents of empowerment of communities for sustainable social and economic transformation.
Addressing guests and graduates when she presented diplomas to nearly 400 teachers that graduated at Mkoba Teachers College last Friday, the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Dr Olivia Muchena, said teachers had a big role to play in developing the nation through moulding minds to be pro-development.
“The Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) recognises human capital development as a priority for achieving and driving our socio-economic growth. The socio-economic transformation of Zimbabwe is everyone’s business including you, our teachers, gathered here today.
For the Ministry, Zim-Asset places great importance to institutions that develop human resources such as Mkoba Teachers College because you train teachers as agents of empowerment for sustainable social and economic transformation. As a ministry, we want to produce teachers who are capable of driving the process of social and economic transformation. Teachers mould the thinking and character of people at their most formative stages of life. Teachers can and do transform lives for better or worse,” said Dr Muchena.
This year’s graduation was held under the theme, “The teacher as an agent of empowerment for sustainable socio-economic transformation”.
Dr Muchena urged teachers to embrace manual work and be prepared to work anywhere in Zimbabwe.
She said: “The majority of our graduates today will teach in rural areas. You should never shun hard work, dirty hands and manual work promoting production of competitive goods and services. You have the responsibility to provide an education which is key to rural transformation. This is essential for ensuring economic, cultural and ecological vitality of rural communities”.
Teachers colleges education diplomas are offered in association with the country’s first university, the University of Zimbabwe.
Addressing the same graduation ceremony, UZ vice chancellor, Professor Levi Nyagura, urged teachers colleges and other institutions in the education chain to embrace science subjects as they were key to the development of a nation.
In a speech read on his behalf by UZ Pro-vice chancellor academic affairs, Prof Chipo Dyanda, Prof Nyagura said science education was now the core of most societies.
“The world today is driven by science and technology. In order to compete meaningfully in such a world, our education system has to respond accordingly. The teaching of sciences has to be seriously considered from early years, through primary and secondary education up to tertiary education. At tertiary level, particularly at teachers’ colleges, the present curriculum would, thus need a significant dose of natural sciences such as Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Together with Computer Sciences, these subjects should be offered as main study areas.
“By so doing, we gradually increase the number of teachers in science subjects where numbers are depleted in secondary schools,” he said.
Prof Nyagura said the programme of taking science subjects seriously should be implemented urgently.
He said once the programme is implemented, there will be less needs for social welfare but improved health and social cohesions because, “an educated workforce, grounded in science, is economically productive”.
Prof Nyagura said it was incumbent upon the government to ensure that there are adequate facilities to buttress the training of science teachers because the pace of technological advancement continues to accelerate.
A total of 383 young men and women were awarded teaching diplomas after completing the three-year teacher training course.
Among the graduates, 70 specialised in Early Childhood Development, underlining the country’s commitment to enhance the quality of education from infancy to tertiary level.
To keep pace with global trends, the graduating teachers were exposed to Information Technology Systems which will come in handy when researching on the internet or effecting e-learning.
An electrifying atmosphere pervaded Mkoba Teachers’ College grounds as parents, spouses, guardians and siblings ululated and whistled as names of graduates were being called.
Online Reporter