Online Reporter
Theseus Mauruki Shambare in VICTORIA FALLS
ZIMBABWE needs to align its education and skills development systems with the changing labour market while reforming labour laws to protect workers and support industrialisation, the Tripartite Negotiating Forum Global Summit in Victoria Falls has heard.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the summit, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) chief executive Advocate Christopher Mugaga said high literacy levels alone were not enough to guarantee economic development if graduates lacked skills relevant to industry.
He said African countries needed to examine whether their education systems were producing graduates capable of driving innovation, industrialisation and job creation.
Advocate Mugaga said the challenge was illustrated by the disconnect between strong university systems and high youth unemployment in some African countries.
“When we celebrate numbers, what kind of employees are we creating ?” he asked.
He said Zimbabwe’s performance on human capital, innovation and talent competitiveness needed to be viewed in the context of the country’s industrialisation ambitions.
Advocate Mugaga also warned that advances in artificial intelligence were changing the skills required in the workplace, making it increasingly important for workers and employers to adapt to technological developments.
Director of Labour Administration, Employment Services and Promotion in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Mr Clemence Zondile Vusani, said the Government was already working with workers and employers through the tripartite system to shape labour laws.
He said some aspects of the labour framework needed to be improved, particularly the handling of labour disputes and regulations governing strike action.
“We need to streamline that. We also, lots of labour unions have been complaining that strike action has been made too punitive and criminalised. We need to change that,” Mr Vusani said.
He said improving dispute settlement and grievance handling would help create greater harmony between employers and employees.
Mr Vusani said decent work rested on four pillars — employment creation, social protection, social dialogue and workers’ rights — and these needed to be supported through effective labour-market regulation.
He said the Government was conducting workplace inspections jointly with National Employment Councils and sector representatives to assess compliance with agreed employment standards, including minimum wages.
Mr Vusani also raised concerns over workers in the informal sector, saying they should not be excluded from workplace safety and protection.
“If you are injured, you are not covered by any law. If you break a finger, you go home. We cannot continue to have such things,” he said.
He further urged workers to take personal responsibility for adapting to technological change through continuous skills development.
“Under these advances in technological things, they may get you out of the job if you do not protect yourself professionally by reskilling and upskilling yourself,” he said.
The discussions came as the TNF Global Summit focused on inclusive growth, decent work, beneficiation and investment promotion, with delegates examining how social dialogue can respond to changing labour-market conditions.
The speakers’ contributions placed skills development, labour-law reform, workplace protection and technological adaptation at the centre of efforts to prepare Zimbabwe’s workforce for the future.
