Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
FOREIGN Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira has challenged African universities to introspect on the relevance of the type of education they are offering to the continent’s development needs.
Prof Murwira said this on Wednesday while giving a public lecture at the Uķniversidade Púnguè in Chimoio, Mozambique on the transformative role of education, science and innovation in uplifting African societies through heritage-based education.
The minister challenged prevailing notions of education urging universities to reflect on whether what they offer truly qualifies as education.
“It is not possible to say ‘I am educated but I am poor,’” he asserted. “If education and poverty coexist what is being taught is not education, it is poison.”
The minister reiterated that education must translate into food security, health, innovation, dignity and prosperity. He drew a sharp distinction between training and education noting that while training imparts functionality, education liberates the mind and empowers creativity.
“You can train a dog to jump but you cannot educate it. Education is the ability to think, act and create solutions,” Prof Murwira said.
He deconstructed the false dichotomy between science and local knowledge emphasising that science is not a Western construct but a universal way of knowing grounded in experimentation, verification and logic.
By equating local knowledge with scientific knowledge, Prof Murwira sought to reclaim Africa’s intellectual confidence reminding his audience that indigenous methods, technologies and systems have long met the criteria of scientific reasoning through lived experience and experimentation.
He added that digital tools do not replace knowledge systems but accelerate the generation and dissemination of information. The real challenge, he said, lies not in acquiring technology but in organising knowledge for production and human well-being.
“The digital world is nothing but mathematics, zero and one, plus and minus. What matters is how we use that language to improve lives,” Prof Murwira said.
He also reflected on the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 model introduced under the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa saying the model emphasises five core missions for tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe.
These are teaching through imparting relevant knowledge rooted in local realities; research — generating new understanding based on local needs; community service — applying knowledge for societal benefit; innovation — creating new products and solutions and industrialisation — transforming ideas into industries and jobs.
“If a university cannot cause industry we must close it down,” he said highlighting the need for higher education to produce tangible outcomes not unemployed graduates.
“He said Zimbabwe’s success stories under Education 5.0—including innovation hubs, industrial parks, agro-innovation centres, local manufacturing and even the launch of ZimSat-1 and ZimSat-2 satellites—illustrate how a nation can transform heritage into modern productivity.
“You cannot study polar bears when you have lions,” he said illustrating the absurdity of imported curricula. “Education must be relevant to the climate, culture and challenges of our people.”
He called for deeper collaboration between Zimbabwe and Mozambique through joint innovation, industrialisation and cultural exchange.
“Let us digitise our wisdom, industrialise our knowledge and dignify our people through organised learning,” Prof Murwira said.
