Harare Polytechnic: Resetting Strategy for a Shifting Skills Frontier

By Admire Masuku

With more than a century of experience in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Harare Polytechnic stands as one of Zimbabwe’s most enduring polytechnics.

It is one of the national educational institutions tasked with producing graduates who meet both national development priorities and global standards.

As government expectations increase around industrialisation, innovation, inclusive education and export-ready skills, polytechnics are being challenged to reposition themselves beyond their traditional mandate and into the international TVET architecture.

As the year begins, polytechnics are navigating a season of strategic reckoning. At the close of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and on the cusp of the more exacting NDS2, expectations are rising, from industry, from communities, and increasingly from global partners.

For Harare Polytechnic, this moment is defined by the push to expand international visibility through collaboration, align local training with national priorities, global best practice, and ensure that TVET remains a credible engine for industrial growth in a world where innovation and industrialisation are determinants for success.

For institutions such as Harare Polytechnic, the moment is momentous. TVET is no longer a peripheral pathway; it is central to Zimbabwe’s ambitions of innovation, industrialisation and inclusive growth.

As the country trudges towards Vision 2030, demand for practical skills is rising, and so too are government expectations.

The mandate is clear. Polytechnics are expected not merely to train, but to produce graduates with critical skills capable of driving productivity, innovation and enterprise. That challenge was underscored by the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Honourable Simelisizwe Sibanda, in remarks delivered on his behalf by the Director of Tertiary Education Programmes, Darlington Damba.

“Your focus must evolve from the foundational growth to sustainable, transformative and resilient development,” he said. “This strategic plan must be bold, forward-looking and responsive” to national needs.

The implication is a decisive shift in how success is measured. TVET institutions such as Harare Polytechnic are being urged to look beyond enrolment and pass rates, and towards tangible outputs, goods, services and innovations that speak directly to national priorities.

“Harare Polytechnic’s success under NDS2 will be judged by the tangible impact in communities, industries and in the lives of students,” said Honourable Sibanda.

These are bold calls, demanding more than incremental reform. They arrive at a time when the education landscape itself is becoming more competitive.

Increasing numbers of ordinary-level graduates are opting out of the traditional A-level route, while universities and private colleges have begun targeting mature O-level graduates, a territory once dominated by polytechnics.

What was once a relatively secure recruitment base is now crowded.

This convergence of pressures makes the present both unsettling and full of possibility. Expectations of graduates are shifting, and so too must the institutions that train them.

At Harare Polytechnic’s recent strategic planning workshop in Kariba, the institution’s Acting Principal, Mrs Deborah Tebogo Ruziwa, crayoned the state of affairs with renewed responsibility.

“We are gathered here, not only as planners and administrators, but as stewards of the future, a future we are shaping for thousands of young Zimbabweans and for our nation’s development.”

Meeting that future, she noted, requires readiness for scale and substance: handling growing student numbers while shouldering heavier national expectations.

Under NDS2, Higher and Tertiary Education institutions are expected to produce quality graduates capable of delivering goods and services.

Beyond classroom highlights, institutions are expected to drive research, innovation, and push for industrialisation, generate income to supplement the national budget, retool workshops and laboratories, and expand the Integrated Skills Outreach Extended Programme to address inequality and spur inclusive economic growth.

Such ambitions demand more than plans on paper. The Tertiary Education Service Council (TESC) Secretary, Dr Tafadzwa Mudondo, says polytechnics must gird themselves with principles of change management if strategy is to translate into impact.

He said Polytechnics must “transform into engines of innovation, science and technology” if they are to deepen collaborations locally and internationally.

To achieve this feat, leaders of such institutions, he said, must adopt a culture of “involving stakeholders in decision making to unlock potential, cultivate teamwork and create synergies,” said Dr Mudondo.

He strongly believes in the principle that development thrives where consultation informs action and participatory leadership guides decision-making.

Dr Mudondo challenged Harare Polytechnic to “engage the communities it serves in designing and implementing programs, as well as in conducting research.”

These expectations are not confined to Zimbabwe’s borders. The country’s TVET brand is quietly extending its reach.

Several Polytechnics, including Harare Polytechnic, Mutare Polytechnic, and Bulawayo Polytechnic, have twinned with international TVET partners, opening pathways for exchange programmes, technology transfer and shared standards.

The regional pull is already evident. Students from neighbouring countries such as Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi and Botswana are increasingly enrolling in Zimbabwean polytechnics, attracted by the country’s growing reputation for practical, industry-oriented training.

Last year alone, 70 students from Zambia enrolled for Diploma programmes at Harare Polytechnic, a testament to its growing regional influence.

Beyond the region, Harare Polytechnic has established linkages with the World Association of Colleges and Polytechnics (WACP) and the Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa (ATUPA).

ATUPA promotes TVET education and professional skills development in over 170 post-secondary educational institutions across 18 African nations, located in Eastern, Southern, Central and Western African regions.

Through ATUPA, the institution has also established linkages with Polytechnics in China including Ningbo Polytechnic University and Shanxi Engineering Vocational Education, further expanding its tentacles and creating new areas of cooperation. More opportunities are anticipated.

As the African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) edges closer to implementation, this international dimension will matter more.

The ACQF seeks to enhance transparency, comparability and mutual recognition of qualifications across Africa, enabling skills mobility and lifelong learning.

In that environment, institutions such as Harare Polytechnic will be judged not only on national relevance, but on continental credibility.

Training standards will need to align with international best practice, underscoring the institution’s rising profile.

Within Harare Polytechnic, the vision is already filtering beyond senior management. Lecturers are articulating ambitions that match the scale of the challenge.

Mr Hansley Chirefu, Head of Department for On-the-Job Education and Training, argues that the teaching approach itself must evolve.

“We must move toward ‘Smart Workshops’ integrated with IoT and AI to bridge the gap between classroom theory and 4th Industrial Revolution demands,” he said, “My vision for the Harare Poly is the ‘Lab-to-Market’ model: where every STEM project is treated as a potential start-up.”

Engineer Malvern Takaidza, Head of the Mechanical Engineering Division, agrees that Polytechnics cannot continue to do things the traditional way.

“All these efforts should lead the institution to go beyond teaching and actively drive industrialisation and production of goods by ensuring that training is directly linked to industrial needs.”

Strategy, however, is only as strong as its execution. For Mr Ronald Chivhuro, the head of the Printing and Graphics department, the difference between aspiration and achievement lies in fundamentals: “teamwork, critical thinking, business approach and prioritisation of resources”.

Others believe that the teaching methods must shift a gear up and cause disruptive thinking.

Acting Head of the Construction Department, Mr. Anusa Manyara, has called for a “shift from theory-heavy training to competency-based, production-oriented learning that transforms Harare Polytechnic into a production and innovation centre hinged on applied research that addresses real community and industrial challenges.”

Students, too, have a burden of expectations.

President of the Harare Polytechnic Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Tawanda Shanya, says his constituency looks forward to an “enhanced learning environment that integrates artificial intelligence,” allowing his office to “answer to the needs of the students and deliver high-quality services.”

Part of this portfolio concerns international students.  Amon Mukupa, a National Diploma student in the Construction Engineering department, prays for changes that will help them “adapt to a new educational system and maximize their learning outcomes.”

For Jane Lubi, the leader of the Zambian students and a National Diploma student pursuing Civil Engineering studies, the challenge is adapting to “a different instructional language” and hopes that more would be done to “foster a sense of belonging essential for academic success.”

As Zimbabwe transitions into NDS2, Harare Polytechnic, an institution with more than a century of experience in TVET, finds itself at a defining moment.

Its regional profile is expanding, its drive toward the internationalisation of education is gaining momentum, and its role in advancing national TVET objectives has never been more pronounced.

Answering to these calls demands sustained adaptation and a culture of continuous improvement, one that aligns global best practice with Zimbabwe’s development priorities and turns rising expectations into measurable national impact.