Over the years, we have seen the
government going into overdrive stressing and emphasizing the importance of
education. The result has been that Zimbabwe has recorded the highest literacy
rate in Africa, which currently stands at 92 percent. This has been propagated
mainly by the idea that education is the key to a successful and well developed
economy, which translates to a prosperous nation. This has hardly been the case
with Zimbabwe. Statistics have shown that Zimbabwe is the largest exporter of
skilled labour to other nations in Africa, especially the neighbouring and
seemingly lucrative South African market. To the newly graduated student, who
has been put through four years of university teaching and training at a very
‘high’ cost, the idea of working and getting a net salary of US$350 is
unattractive, if not downright insulting. Most of these graduates end up
working in the civil service, not because they want to, but because they have
no other option. It does not need a rocket scientist to determine what kind of
a worker such a person, driven by desperation rather than determination, will
turn out to be in the field.
The question in everyone’s head
in general, and the government in particular becomes, “how do we make the civil
service attractive to the most educated and dedicated student, whilst at the
same time maintaining sustainability in the economy?”In Zimbabwe’s case, this
seems like a mammoth task, quite unachievable. But that is only if education is
not a priority to the government, and as we have already established, it
actually is a priority. Resuscitating the economy, another top priority of the
Zimbabwean government goes hand in glove, I believe, with education. Since
2000, the government has been putting up measures in place to counter the
illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the western countries. To what extent
the government has actually managed to do that can only be best explained by
the person on the ground, that is, the Zimbabwean himself. However, although
the learning part of the education process has remained of the highest quality,
the mechanisms, or lack of them, have not been very impressing. More emphasis
has now been placed on resuscitation of the economy, mostly using imported
ideas yet homegrown solutions are being nipped in the bud by making university
education only accessible to a few, the few who will end up either in foreign countries
or under employment out of desperation, and not by choice. The pattern is so
clear and the consequences open for all to see. Zimbabwe does not need anyone
to grow and become attractive. Zimbabwe needs Zimbabweans to make Zimbabwe
attractive to the rest of the world. That is the simplest of all equations, on
paper.
Currently, the policy document
that has everyone talking is the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic
Transformation: Zim Asset. This is a national blueprint meant to revive
Zimbabwe’s fortunes and help it climb out of the economic quagmire that it
finds itself in. The blueprint has been divided into four “result based”
clusters which are Food Security and Nutrition, Social Services and Poverty
Eradication, Infrastructure and Utilities and Value Addition and Beneficiation.
As youths, our participation in all of these clusters is very much needed, but
the areas of concern, particularly, are the Social Services and Poverty
Eradication and the Value Addition and Beneficiation clusters. Under the Social
Services cluster, government sets out to improve the quality and access to
education and training at all levels. Improving the access to education means
more people get to have access to education without a lot of hindrances. In
actual fact, government commits itself to shouldering or removing some of those
situations which makes it difficult for people to access education, and I
believe the high tuition fees are one such example of a barrier to education
for most Zimbabweans. It is of no doubt that the majority of Zimbabweans are
intelligent or skilled enough to require tertiary education. The importance of
such cannot be stressed any less. Under the value addition cluster, government
seeks to fetch more value for our wealth by establishing processing plants in
Zimbabwe. This will be achieved by improving linkages among academia, research
institutions, industries and government. The chain becomes very apparent. All
tertiary institutions are also research institutions and these feed directly
into the industry which is then meant to provide the economic spark we
desperately need.
It therefore becomes clear that
the students in tertiary institutions are the biggest stakeholders in the
successful implementation of Zim-Asset. We are the strategic tool, through our
research capabilities, to influence the development agenda in the correct
direction and translate the Zim-Asset implementation plan into reality. This
all boils down to, in essence, the attractiveness of government policies to the
youth vis a vis the sustainability of such attractive measures being put in
place. We believe in the possibility of a balance being struck between these
two conflicting but mutually related interests. The first port of call would be
to consider the re-introduction of student grants and cadetship to cover the majority
of the students. Many stories, real and imagined, have been told by the spin
doctors and this is one area which has been a fertile campaign line for many a
student activist, and has found favour with the student. Through Zim Asset,
this might just be a reality.
A nation that anchors its
policies on the youth and youth development will definitely prosper and grow.
It is only prudent that the government taps into the large resource base that
is the youth and exploit it for the economic development of the country.
President Mugabe is quoted extensively in the media saying that “if you invest
in the youth, you invest in the future”. That is a clear demonstration of his
unwavering dedication towards the empowerment of youths as we poise to take
over the reins from our fathers. Investing in the future of the nation is the
definition of sustainability.
To quote from the President,
during a courtesy call by students, he said, “our sun is setting, and yours is
rising. Just make sure yours does not set soon.” These are the wise words of
the most celebrated leader on the African continent and world over to the
youth. He clearly believes that the future is safe in the hands of the youth,
of the students. As such, Zim Asset, and the government as the medium of implementation,
should look into ways of establishing a direct link with the youth today for
the best leaders tomorrow.
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