Zaka Vocational Training Centre on the Cards

Government has engaged the Zaka Rural District Council to secure land for the construction of a Vocational Training Centre, in a move aimed at tackling rising youth unemployment.

Deputy Minister of Youth Vocational Training and Development, Kudakwashe Mupamhanga told Parliament last week that consultations with Zaka Rural District Council were already underway.

“Efforts are actively underway to address this issue. We formally engaged the Zaka Rural District Council through the District Development Coordinator, and we are currently awaiting an official response regarding identification and allocation of suitable land. Once the land is secured, the Ministry will proceed with planning and resource mobilisation,” said Mupamhanga.

The matter was raised by Zaka South MP Clemence Chiduwa, who asked when the centre would be constructed and pressed Government on its broader policy for empowering young people in marginalised districts.

Mupamhanga said Government was alarmed by the scale of youth unemployment, citing the 2024 Third Labour Force Survey Report which revealed that 2.3 million young people between the ages of 18 and 35 were neither employed, educated nor trained.

“This presents a national challenge that requires targeted and inclusive interventions,” the deputy minister warned.

Despite the challenge, Mupamhanga said Government had already rolled out several youth empowerment initiatives in Zaka, including start up kits with 60 young women from Zaka Central received toolkits to start income-generating projects, 10 young men in Zaka South, Ward 20, were trained in small-scale manufacturing and entrepreneurship, focusing on household products like detergents.

Mushagashe Vocational Training Centre trained 49 youths through outreach programmes — 34 women in baking and cake making, and 15 men in welding and 136 youths received funding to launch or expand small businesses.

Twenty five youths including 11 women and 14 men, were each given 1,000 day-old chicks to establish poultry projects.

Mupamhanga emphasised that these interventions were part of a broader national strategy to reduce unemployment and improve livelihoods for young people, particularly in rural areas.