Minister Mavima calls for strategies to address skills mismatch

Sikhumbuzo Moyo

GOVERNMENT has said there is an urgent need to craft, develop and implement strategies to address the mismatch between the skills the country’s education system produces and the demands of the dynamic labour market.

Speaking at the Scholastista Conference held at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre’s (ZIEC) Hall Two on Thursday that ran on the sidelines of the first stand-alone in over a decade Scholastica Expo, the Minister of Skills Audit and Development, Professor Paul Mavima warned that if the mismatch of skills is ignored, the skills gap has adverse implications on productivity, innovation, competitiveness, and inclusive growth.

“As we are pursuing our bold vision of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030 as envisioned by His Excellency, the President, Dr E. D. Mnangagwa, it is important that we craft develop and implement strategies to address the mismatch between the skills our education system produces and the demands of our dynamic labour market,” said Prof Mavima.

He said the Skills Audit and Development Ministry was established with a clear mandate to conduct comprehensive audits of the nation’s skill base, analyze the gaps, and work with stakeholders to craft a transformative framework that links education with real-world demand and in line with the mandate, the Ministry embarked on nationwide stakeholder consultations to ascertain availability of skills in various sectors of the economy.

“What we discovered was sobering, a surplus of graduates in non-strategic areas and alarming shortages in sectors critical to growth. For example, in mining and manufacturing, we face shortages in geologists, mining engineers, artisans and technicians. In agriculture, there is a deficit in modern agronomic practices, mechanisation expertise and agribusiness management,” said Prof Mavima.

Prof Mavima said the construction industry lacks adequately trained surveyors, civil engineers and skilled tradespeople while in the digital and technology sector the nation faces a severe shortfall in software developers, data analysts, cybersecurity experts and AI practitioners adding that in healthcare, there have shortages in specialized medical fields and health technologies.

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