Masvingo, (New Ziana) – All the country’s tertiary education institutions are expected to be Education 5.0 compliant shortly after the government scrapped programmes it deemed useless, a cabinet minister has said.

Education 5.0 tertiary education courses are meant to shift focus from producing employment seekers to churning out entrepreneurs that can help improve production and create employment.

Speaking at the launch of the Great Zimbabwe University Campus Radio Station, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Professor Amon Murwira, said: “The Government of Zimbabwe has reconfigured the Higher and Tertiary System from the tripartite education system of teaching, research and community service (Education 3.0) which produces only literate job seeking graduates to Education 5.0 that includes Innovation and Industrialisation which produces entrepreneurs.”

He said tertiary intuitions were building innovation hubs and industrial parks whose results were beginning to show with the GZU Radio Station being an example.

“All our higher and tertiary education programmes shall be Education 5.0 compliant by August 2020. We are doing away with nice sounding programmes that specialise in dumping graduates into the streets. Why do you teach people things that you know are useless? You know very well that this thing after they learn they will do nothing and you keep on calling some more to kill more,” he said.

Prof Murwira said that the tertiary education system must have a purpose and benefits, primarily to produce goods and services.

He said early fruits of the shift in focus was the various material contributions that the country’s universities have made towards mitigating against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Almost all local universities have embarked on the manufacture of Covid-19 protective equipment and materials such as gloves, sanitizers and face masks.

Some are now involved in research for a vaccine for the pandemic.
New Ziana