Higher and Tertiary Education Minister, Professor Amon Murwira says lecturers need to come up with serious programs that enhance productivity in tertiary institutions and come up with innovative idea that enhance growth.
Prof Murwira, who was on a tour of Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) said lecturers at tertiary institutions should be kept motivated to maximize production which in turn enhances economic growth.
He, however, warned lazy lecturers who do not contribute to the development of their students saying they are sabotaging the country’s economic revival.
“We need to move away from a culture of just sitting around and watch the country continue to go down the drain. Tertiary institutions are the hub of economic growth because that is where all technocrats and everyone else produced.
“As a result, we, as lecturers need to divert our energies from things that do not bring about change in our country. You are responsible for the country’s destiny, if the country goes hungry it is because of you, hence we need to be innovative and prop up vast economic revival,” said Prof Murwira.
The newly appointed High and Tertiary Education Minister is on a whirlwind tour of universities and colleges around the country to assess the situation on the ground.
Murwira noted that the country continues to suffer economically due to theoretic graduates who lacks the technical expertise which he attributed to lecturers’ unproductive behavior.
“We have a lot graduates who wear their gowns with pride, but they do not add value to the economic growth. As a country with a high literacy rate, we have not imparted our knowledge on things that matter, which then makes us question if what is being taught is what the industry requires,” said Murwira.
Despite reportedly having one the best literacy rate (90%) in Africa, Zimbabwe remains one of the least developed and has in the past, suffered mass exodus of skilled manpower who have sought greener pastures across the world.
Meanwhile, Professor Murwira urged HIT to come up with innovative researches that will put Zimbabwe on the global map, urging innovators to patent their inventions against intellectual property theft.
