Story by Tafara Chikumira
GOVERNMENT is set to propel the industrialisation drive through addressing the existing skills gap as the country targets to attain an upper middle-income society by 2030.
It emerged during a skills audit workshop in Gweru this Friday that the skills revolution being crafted by the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development will complement government efforts in addressing industrial needs.
“Skills are at the core of our development. If you don’t have the skills you remain poor. Human resources is the engine for any national development. With the amount of resources we have, as long as we don’t have the requisite skills this comes to naught. We want to revolutionise the skills aspect in our country. We want to come up with a degree in mineral exploration, a degree in beneficiation and so on. We also want to streamline the scholarships so that we have scholarships which speaks to industrial revolution. We don’t want a country that is certificate-oriented while lacking the requisite skills to address the industry needs,” said the Director of Skills Analysis in the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development, Mr Victor Cheure.
Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Owen Ncube weighed in saying skills development is key in advancing national aspirations.
He said, “This workshop provides a critical platform for unpacking our provincial skills base to facilitate industrialisation, modernisation and strategic deployment of human capital as we seek to attain an upper middle-income economy earlier than 2030 as envisioned by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde. Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa. I am glad to share with our Guest of Honour that the Midlands Province has fully adopted the Second Republic’s Education 5.0 model that reduces the skills gap through transforming ideas into products and services through innovation.”
The skills revolution being undertaken by the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development is set to address the country’s skills gap which currently stands at 38 percent.
