Zvamaida Murwira in Masvingo
UNIVERSITIES should regularly review their programmes to remain relevant and respond to the development needs of the country, President Mnangagwa has said.
The Head of State and Government said the heritage based Education 5.0 which seeks to produce goods and services must help cultivate an enduring innovative spirit to elevate universities to become Pan African centres.
President Mnangagwa who is also Chancellor of all State universities said this after commissioning Great Zimbabwe University Innovation hub, dubbed “Centre for Creative Thinking.”
“Going forward universities are therefore called upon to constantly review their curricula and programmes to remain relevant and feed into the development needs of the country,” said President Mnangagwa.
He directed the upgrade of Masvingo General Hospital into a provincial and teaching health institution.
“The Great Zimbabwe University Innovation hub follows the successful completion and commissioning of the Simon Mazorodze Medical School and Textile Factory both undertaken during the Second Republic.
“The projects are set to have far reaching impacts on the local communities of this province,” said President Mnangagwa.
“The Ministries of Health and Child Care, Local Government and Public Works as well as Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development among other agencies are directed to work in unison to urgently ensure the upgrading of Masvingo General Hospital, into a Provincial and Teaching hospital.”
The construction of innovation hubs and industrial parks is not an end in itself, but should develop several prototypes ready for commercialisation and eventually for the market, he said.
He said among the prototypes was an assortment of herbs and medicines for treating various diseases.
He said it was gratifying to note that GZU had introduced new programmes which include Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science leading to the Medical degree, Chemical Technology, Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Soil Science and Land Management as well as Irrigation and Water Engineering.
“These dovetail with the emerging industries such as the multi-billion dollar bio-technology industries which my administration will soon be setting up. Increased studies which will positively impact on climate change mitigation and adaptation are equally welcome,” said President Mnangagwa.
“Keep up the momentum and good work as you continue to respond to the critical skills and competencies required for national economic growth, now and in the future. The new Education 5.0 compliant programmes must help cultivate an enduring innovative and creative spirit among the young talented students to become an exceptional Pan African institution, propelling heritage-based learning scholarship, modernisation and industrialisation.”
With the requisite infrastructure and ecosystem, said President Mnangagwa, universities must work harder towards development of new knowledge, skills and competencies.
“The Great Zimbabwe University is exhorted to also maintain focus on extensive and impactful research with regards heritage-based knowledge across various disciplines including indigenous herbs, medicines, climate change mitigation, disaster management, traditional grains, food and dry land agriculture systems,” said President Mnangagwa.
“You must take a lead towards developing programmes and conducting researches that turn Masvingo province into a green belt and propel its economic development, leveraging on the abundant water resources.”
He said Government was ready to provide support and guidance for a stronger innovation ecosystem for the university and equally supporting young people for them to realise their full potential.
He said the importance of innovation hubs and industrial parks could not be overemphasised.
“With singleness of purpose, unity and hard work we will have an improved and prosperous economy come 2030, even with the albatross of sanctions hanging over our country. The onus is on us Zimbabweans to develop and build our motherland. Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, brick by brick and stone upon stone,” he said.
In an interview held during his tour of the innovation hub, President Mnangagwa commended universities for the great work they were doing.
“It’s a breakthrough. Under the Second Republic we introduced innovation hubs at all state universities and this is the result of the philosophy of having innovation hubs where our talented boys and girls can exercise their dreams to produce products and services. My generation thought things must come from overseas into Africa now with the younger generation you must produce things and sell them overseas. In the past we were using our foreign currency to produce these things, this is what we meant by having an innovation hub. Every State university must have it to allow our young boys and girls to dream,” said President Mnangagwa.
Earlier on Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga said innovation hubs were an integral cog and key enabler in the country’s economic transformation agenda.
“This event comes at a time when the Second Republic has accelerated the creation of a knowledge-based centre underpinned by the heritage-based Education 5.0 as the country strives towards an empowered upper middle-class society by 2030. It is therefore gratifying that the innovation hub will be a key enabler in the attainment of economic transformation agenda being spearheaded by President Mnangagwa,” said VP Chiwenga.
“I am aware that GZU has a unique and important niche in the research ecosystem that is promotion of culture and heritage. In that vein your research and innovation is expected to nurture the Zimbabwean cultural values and uplift the livelihoods of Zimbabwean people through science-based solutions,” said VP Chiwenga.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister, Professor Amon Murwira said every Zimbabwean is duty bound to develop the country as no one else will come to do so.
He said there was need for education that transform people’s livelihoods.
“We do not go to school to mourn about our poverty but our education should transform our lives. It should bring food on our table. The accumulation of papers alone and having a heap of papers and say give me a job because I have educational papers. Those papers must be able to bring food, they must be able to produce goods and services,” he said.
The event was attended by Government Ministers, Vice-Chancellors from other State Universities, senior Government officials, and traditional leaders among others.
