Zimbabwe says education system has been too supply-driven

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s education system has been too focused on producing graduates without sufficiently matching their skills to the needs of industry, a government minister has told Parliament.

Skills Audit and Development Minister Jenfan Muswere told the Senate that a preliminary government study had identified shortcomings in the country’s education and skills-development system.

“The preliminary study that we had conducted indicated a shortcoming in that our education was more of supply-driven than demand-driven and that our education did not relate much to our heritage and our natural resources,” Muswere said.

He said his ministry was seeking to redirect education and skills development towards the needs of employers and the country’s economy.

“So, this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development to redirect the energy, effort and investment towards a demand-driven education,” Muswere said.

Muswere pointed to thousands of students graduating from Zimbabwe’s universities and questioned whether their qualifications matched the skills required by industry.

“A simple analysis is that recently, His Excellency the President presided over the graduation ceremony at the University of Zimbabwe where about 7 000 students graduated. He then moved to Chinhoyi University, another 3 000 graduates and the Harare Institute of Technology, another 3 000,” he said.

“The analysis is, what particular graduates are we generating from these institutes of higher learning? Are the skills and the qualifications academic or professional? Are they aligned to the resources and the demands by industry?”

Muswere said the government wanted curricula and skills development to be more closely driven by industry requirements.

“Hence, the need to align an industry-driven model in terms of curriculum and an industry-driven model in terms of skills development,” he said.

The government is conducting skills audits across ministries and consulting businesses and other end users to determine what skills are needed in different sectors.

Muswere said his ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and was preparing to sign another with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.

“We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and next week, we are signing another MOU with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries in order to align our skills with our industry and our heritage,” he said.

He said a career guidance policy had also been finalised as part of efforts to align education with the country’s industries, heritage and natural resources.

“So far, we have finalised the career guidance policy that is going to align our national strategic thinking and planning in terms of skills as we seek to align education and skills development to our industry, heritage and resources,” Muswere said.

Muswere said the skills audits would include employers and other users of graduates’ skills, with work already covering sectors including agriculture, health and pharmaceuticals.

“So, there is a lot in terms of alignment and we will continue to undertake these skills audits more surgically and more empirically,” he said.

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