National Youth Service a necessity — minister 

Sukoluhle Ndlovu Midlands Correspondent
The National Youth Service is in line with the African Youth Charter and the Southern African Development Community framework, as well as vision 2030, a Government minister has said.

Officiating at a graduation ceremony of 320 National Youth Service cadres at Dadaya Training Centre over the weekend, Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Owen Ncube said instilling a sense of patriotism in the youths was a necessity.

The graduates who comprised of 100 females and 230 males were drawn from the country’s ten provinces.

“The National Youth Service programme, ladies and gentlemen, is a programme whose mandate of youth development is not unique to Zimbabwe, but is in line with international, continental, regional and domestic policies and provisions such as the African Youth Charter, the Southern Africa Development Community Youth Development Framework, the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the National Youth Policy, and the Vision 2030.

“Instilling discipline and a sense of patriotism in our youth has been one of the milestones of the new dispensation,” he said. Minister Ncube said the National Youth Service training has four key components, namely: national orientation, physical education, entrepreneurship and community/industrial attachment.

“The first month was for in-camp training in which national orientation which comprises national values, morals, youth obligations, responsibilities and rights are fused, entrepreneurship and physical education lessons, with a bias towards discipline, were taught,” he said.

Minister Ncube said during their training programme, the youths were involved in community work including the construction of an early childhood development centre at Oreti Primary School in Zvishavane, saving the school about $1 150 in labour costs.

“The youths were engaged in the local communities where they spent two weeks carrying out voluntary works at schools and the chief’s homestead. They fenced Ndinaneni Primary School, dug garbage pits and started a market gardening project for the school. This saw the school saving $1 000 in labour costs. A total cost of $2 500 was saved,” he said