Some members of the Zimbabwean Parliament are in Ghana on a working visit to explore how the country is leveraging education to drive innovation and development.
Their key engagement included a meeting with Ghana’s Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu to focus on equipping the youth and rolling out policies to explore Africa’s natural resources.
The Zimbabwean delegation is in Ghana to study best practices in the education sector, with a particular focus on how the country has successfully established innovation and industrial parks to bridge the gap between academia and industry.
During a meeting with the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, discussions centered on how Ghana’s model could be replicated in Zimbabwe to promote skills development and entrepreneurship.
The Minister assured the delegation of government’s continued commitment to supporting innovation and higher education.
He revealed that adequate funding has been earmarked to drive initiatives aimed at preparing young people for the job market.
“It’s important that we need to trade among ourselves, and I am told trade between us amount to over billion of dollars, capitalising on that will help our economies to grow.
“In terms of education government has earmarked funding to support technical and vocational training,” Haruna Iddrisu said.
Leader of the Zimbabwean team, Dr. Theokozani Khupe, expressed concern over the current state of education across Africa. She noted that while the continent is rich in resources, its education systems often fail to equip the youth with the skills needed for today’s workforce.
“In Zimbabwe, we are saying we now want to produce job creators instead of job seekers, so we are saying if the student has an idea then they can produce themselves, that’s why we are in Ghana because we have been told Ghana is very much advanced when it comes to innovation and industrial parks so we have come to see how you were able to do so that Zimbabwe can learn.
“It is our desire that as Africans we must unite, we must start trading among ourselves, we have got the population, we have got the people to build a resilient knowledge base economy for generations to come”.
The delegation’s visit forms part of broader efforts to reform Zimbabwe’s education system by learning from successful African models, as both nations look to youth development as a catalyst for future growth.
