Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata –Herald Correspondent
IN a strategic move set to reshape Zimbabwe’s education and media training landscape, Zimpapers Training Institute (ZTI) has sealed a high-impact partnership with Lovely Professional University (LPU), India’s largest private university.
The collaboration seeks to enhance vocational training, technological integration and global exposure for Zimbabwean students, particularly in media and communication.
In an interview during his inaugural visit to Zimbabwe, Dr Aman Mittal, vice president of LPU said he was excited about the partnership and its long-term impact on human capital development.
“Zimpapers is already in radio, television and newspapers, which makes them a powerful industry player. We believe that a student who studies while working in such a practical environment will become strong manpower for Zimbabwe,” he said.
As part of the partnership, LPU will provide curriculum development, faculty training, advanced teaching methodologies and internship opportunities.
Zimbabwean students enrolled in Master’s programmes in media, film production and journalism at LPU will be guaranteed internships with Zimpapers, creating a bridge between academic training and real-world industry experience.
“We are going to help Zimpapers with all the content, curriculum, training of the faculty and ensure those trained get internships,” Dr Mittal said.
It is a two-way process, our students will also get confirmed internships at Zimpapers.”
LPU currently hosts close to 1 000 Zimbabwean students making it the single largest host of Zimbabwean students at one institution globally.
The university also draws learners from 29 African countries with Zimbabwe being the leading contributor.
The partnership aims to introduce a new model of education in Zimbabwe, one that shifts from traditional classroom teaching to immersive, experience-based learning within professional media environments.
“Traditional institutions have remained unchanged for centuries. But when students are brought into studios and newspaper offices as part of their training, that becomes a new model of education and we are proud to help Zimbabwe lead that change,” said Dr Mittal.
In the future, the collaboration may extend to establishing a full-fledged media and technology institute in Zimbabwe, with potential campuses in Harare or Bulawayo.
Dr Mittal said it was important to invest in technology across the education sector. He said many institutions globally have delayed such investments to their detriment.
“Gone are the days when a degree was enough,” Dr Mittal said.
“The only way institutions can remain relevant is by investing in AI, machine learning, and customised education. A piece of paper will not help anymore – skills will.”
The partnership also reinforced the role of private and international institutions in complementing local efforts to modernise education.
“If we can create thousands of media-ready professionals through this institution – people who can work anywhere in the world – we have done our work,” Dr Mittal said.
Zimpapers’ acting chief executive Mr William Chikoto said the partnership will see the Indian University helping ZTI to further enhance its curriculum.
“As you are aware, they are a very big university, also big in media training so they have offered that we can partner in the area of curriculum development,” he said.
“They can assist us as well with lecturers. Lectures can be done virtually and some can come here to work with us. We also explore the exchange programmes that our people can go there and also learn.
“The other important thing is the issue of career exposure. We are going to be doing a partnership with them, as we go to schools, we will go with them and they will have an opportunity to introduce the different programmes that they offer directly to the students so that they get to choose wisely.”
Mr Chikoto said LPU has developed a psychometric test that can be applied to the schools.
“Students can take that test and that test will then be able to indicate which career they should be following after carrying out that test,” he said.
“We are excited about all these possibilities. As you know, our dream is to one day grow into a university. We will start small as we have, but in years to come, we will develop that and hopefully, we can also introduce degrees that are then affiliated to that university.
“So, there are several things that we are going to be exploring, but what is good is that they said they are going to assist us with whatever assistance that we need and we are very grateful for that.”
As Zimbabwe continues its push to modernise and align its education sector with global standards, the LPU-Zimpapers partnership could be a turning point, bringing together academic rigour, industry relevance, and international opportunity under one roof.
