BULAWAYO, Aug. 14 (NewsDay Live) — Bulawayo Polytechnic graduated 3,917 students on Thursday, with nearly half completing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes, as government renewed calls for tertiary institutions to align training with rural industrialisation and digitalisation.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Frederick Shava said the cohort, comprising 1,894 male and 2,023 female graduates, demonstrated the institution’s growing capacity to produce technical skills needed by the country.
“Of this cohort, 1,866 students, or 47.6%, graduated from STEM-related disciplines, reflecting the institution’s sustained commitment to cultivating the technical and scientific capacity that our national development agenda demands,” Shava said.
He said the graduation theme, “Equipping Globally Competitive Human Capital for Rural Industrialisation and Digitalisation”, aligned with Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2, and would be advanced through the government’s Heritage-Based Education 5.0 model.
“Heritage-Based Education 5.0 challenges institutions to go beyond teaching, research, and community service, to embrace innovation, industrialisation and commercialisation as integral components of their mandate,” he said.
Shava said enrolment at the polytechnic had risen to 6,588 students, with 4,387 studying STEM-related disciplines.
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He encouraged more young women to pursue science and technology programmes.
The minister highlighted the institution’s Integrated Skills Expansion Outreach Programme, which trained 691 people, including 71 inmates from the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services.
A further 47 financially constrained learners benefited from the Work-for-Fees scheme, while 21 students living with disabilities were enrolled through partnerships with the Forum for African Women Educationalists Zimbabwe and SATWILD.
Shava also cited the polytechnic’s commercial ventures, including Sky Silhouettes Investments, a driving school and a detergents factory, as examples of Education 5.0 being implemented through practical enterprise.
“These ventures exemplify Education 5.0 in action, producing innovators, entrepreneurs and drivers of economic transformation,” he said.
The minister said Bulawayo Polytechnic had also expanded its international engagement, participating in the Filda International Trade Fair in Luanda, Angola, in July and pursuing partnerships with Angolan institutions.
The college also held its first joint international research conference with Welwitschia University of Namibia during the year.
Addressing the graduates, Shava urged them to remain adaptable as artificial intelligence and digitalisation continue to reshape industries.
“Remember the nation’s future relies on your actions,” he said, invoking a Shona and Ndebele proverb that emphasises the responsibility of citizens to build their nation.
The graduation is part of government’s broader drive to reposition technical and vocational education institutions as engines of industrialisation, skills development and rural economic development.