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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
THE country should embrace nationhood for socio-economic transformation, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Addressing educationists, learners and parents at St Columba’s High School recently, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Professor Paul Mavima said Zimbabwe has a deficiency of nationhood.
He said intolerance of divergent views is rife and has a bearing on the country’s socio-economic development.
“We need to build our nation. We existed for 38 years more as a country and not as a nation. We have to attain nationhood. A nation is where people in their various stations in life, in their various ethnicities, in their various regions, in their various religions, in their various denominations, in their various races and when everything is said and done, will stand up and say I am a Zimbabwean. That’s what a nation is,” he said.
Prof Mavima said citizens need to embrace people of different opinions and divergent views for the development of the country.
He said if intolerance is not done away with, Zimbabwe risks creating a country where its citizens and younger generations live in despair.
Prof Mavima said for Zimbabwe to catch up with the rest of the world, it must implement its development goals.
“We have so many areas of socio-economic development that we need to catch up with. We are a country that developed visions. I know one time church organisations came together and produced a document which they called ‘The Zimbabwe we want,’” he said.
“We also went through a document which was called vision 2020 and at some point during the Inclusive Government we had the development of a Vision 2040. But not much was done. As a result, as a country we lag behind the rest of the world.”
He said the country can achieve socio-economic transformation through research and adopting modern methods.
Prof Mavima said while the country is stuck in traditional ways of farming, the rest of the world has advanced its technologies and increasing productivity.
“Farming in modern days has become so knowledge intense and if we are to be competitive in the world we have to change the way we do things. And in the education sector we say let’s start with the youngsters. That is why we are saying these children should learn Science, Mathematics and be innovative right from Early Childhood Development level,” he said.
Online Reporter