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Jobless graduates due to outdated curriculum

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Zimbabwe’s 13 universities annually churn out an average of 10 000 graduates a year.

Zimbabwe’s 13 universities annually churn out an average of 10 000 graduates a year.

Victoria Mtomba

But most of them have failed to secure employment due to the declining job opportunities in the formal job market, a situation that has constantly recurred over the past 10 years.

A snap survey by NewsDay, based on average enrolment figures for individual institutions, indicated that the combined total of last year’s graduates is pegged at nearly 10 000.

University of Zimbabwe and Midlands State University topped the list with 2 700 and 2 338 respectively.

The National University of Science and Technology had 1 450, Chinhoyi University of Technology 674, Bindura University 673, Women University of Africa 500 and Lupane 131 graduates.

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstats) has no official statistics on jobless graduates, but has a compiled list of enrolment details.

Lack of opportunities to secure employment in the formal economy has forced most of them to resort to the informal trade, analysts say.

University of Zimbabwe’s business school Professor Tony Hawkins is on record as having said that Zimbabwe’s informal sector was playing a crucial role in reducing poverty and unemployment.

Many unemployed graduates say their qualifications are tailor-made for formal employment, but employment opportunities are just too few.

Zimbabwe’s curriculum was designed to train employees rather than employers or entrepreneurs, according to the Nziramasanga Commission.

Government set up the commission in 1999 to evaluate Zimbabwe’s educational requirements and observed that the national curriculum was inclined towards academics.

It recommended the introduction of vocational skills training in secondary schools.

This was done after realising that there was need to prioritise vocational skills as there were many pupils who were not academically gifted.

Educationists contend that following independence in 1980, government adopted a system designed to train pupils to be employees and this has, in the last decade, become irrelevant due to diminishing employment opportunities.

Twenty-five-year old Sharon Vengesai (not her real name) is a victim of this change.

After graduating with a Sociology, Gender and Development Studies degree from a local university in 2011, she has not been able to secure employment in line with her qualifications.

She finally had to settle for selling blankets and electronic gadgets at the Gulf Complex in Harare.

There were no jobs that suited her qualifications which she says are more in line with formal employment.

“With the type of our economy, I don’t think the education being offered by colleges is relevant because people are not doing jobs that they trained for.

For instance, I did Gender and Development Studies, but I am now a sales floor person. The curriculum of this country trains us to be employees instead of creating our own employment,” she said.

The country’s increasing informal economy has made formal “bookish” education irrelevant, according to observers pushing for a curriculum change. This is unlike the 1980s and early 1990s when almost all graduates were automatically absorbed into the formal job market.

Sharon, who earns $300 per month, works for a West African national. These foreigners now dominate Zimbabwe’s retail sector, offering employment to degreed locals.

“I decided to take the job so that I would not be idle at home,” she said.

Zimstats show that there was a total enrolment figure of 60 143 students in 2012 in the country’s 13 universities.

Former Education minister David Coltart said his attempts to reform the outdated curriculum were frustrated as his proposals for the wholesale adoption of the Nziramasanga recommendations found no takers.

“It was one of my frustrations. Although I wanted to make reforms, I faced obstacles. The curriculum is outdated as it is from 1986. With this informationa and communication technology environment, it is hopeless,” he said.

An educationist Francis Mashayamombe said: “Our problem as a nation is inertia and unwillingness to implement things,” he said.

Although it is now 14 years since the Commission put forward its recommendations, they are still valid in the context of the entrepreneurial drive that government is pushing for. In this drive, students are encouraged to aim to be employers rather than becoming employees.

Coltart said the new government should priorities a new curriculum if it is to curb joblessness. There is, however, a glimmer of hope, after government in February this year resolved to push for the requisite change.

A five-member team of senior consultants has already been commissioned to spearhead review in line with Nziramasanga recommendations, Coltart said.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union president George Nkiwane said it was imperative for the inclusion of industrialists in crafting a relevant curriculum that will help students have their creative skills aligned to industry requirements.

“As long as the industrialists are not involved in the curriculum, we will continue to churn out graduates that are not relevant to the industries. Industrialists and officials from the education sector should sit down and come up with a curriculum that is relevant to the current job market demands,” he said.

This, he said, could be done through engagement with human resources experts in industry and curriculum developers and compare notes on what works best for the country.

After realising the need to provide jobs and create equal economic opportunities, the government early this year launched the Government Graduate Entrepreneurial and Employment Promotion Programme.

The programme will provide youths with entrepreneurial skills and on-the-job skills. The programmes earmarked for the projects include potato production, horticulture, livestock and cattle fattening projects value added agricultural projects.