via Zim education system outdated: Hungwe – DailyNews Live 23 July 2014
HARARE – Josia Hungwe, the minister of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities in Education, yesterday in Senate said Zimbabwe’s education system is outdated because it emphasises scholars’ cognitive development at the expense of life skills.
Hungwe told the thematic committee on Millennium Development Goals that Zimbabwe’s education system was not addressing the needs of the labour market.
“We aim to produce graduates with crucial survival skills, skills to create self-jobs as well as employment for others,” Hungwe said. “When you do not have skills in your blood, in Kenya they say you are a limping goat.
“This type of education is called the 21st Century system that takes cognisance of the fact that being educated is not only about having degrees but necessary skills.”
Hungwe said the country should move from the 17th Century way of doing things where the biggest question of the time was how educated someone was in terms of degrees to the modern era where what matters most is what one can do.
He said there was need to retrain teachers particularly those who specialised in Early Childhood Development, arguing that the current crop of educators was not tailor-made to impart vocational skills training simultaneously with academics to schoolchildren.
Hungwe told the committee, chaired by Senator Chief Matshe Khumalo, that his ministry’s vision was to foster skills development in schools and tertiary institutions.
The former Masvingo governor appealed for funds from the International Labour Organisation and the World Bank, which he said had indicated a willingness to assist.
“We are facing funding challenges notwithstanding the determination we have to succeed,” Hungwe said.
“We need partners both locally and internationally. We will have to approach the institutions and tell them that we have now started what you said was your baby but it all depends on how we approach them.”
COMMENTS
New cirriculum :
Mugabe is the god of the world
How Mugabe became the king of Zimbabwe
How to loot
How to steal and destroy
How to worship zanupf
How to murder
How to break perfectly good countries and make them useless
How grace became queen of zimbabwe
I do agree wholeheartedly with comrade Hungwe. Zimbabwe needs to seriously address the issue of training and educating people who can provide critical services to the population in health, utility services, transportation and many other daily needs. Junior colleges can help give the country a boost to educate and train graduates from two and four year secondary schools. I would be more than willing to assist in the development of such a plan. Bravo comrade.
I agree with Mlimo. The government doesn’t really care about people getting the best education to succeed in life. The most important thing to them is to ensure that young people worship Mugabe & his party & are willing to murder, rape & destroy for ZANU PF’s sake. People who are actually educated can pretty much figure out who is responsible for our country’s turmoil.
“This type of education is called the 21st Century system that takes cognisance of the fact that being educated is not only about having degrees but necessary skills.”
Not good example of expression from a minister. Trying to be sophisticated when simple words will do.
Hungwe misses the point or he is trying to make his ministry sound relevant. Workers essentially bring three aspects to a work place; knowledge, skills, and talent. Knowledge is combining information retrieved from long term memory and information/data stored in short term memory via 5 senses and applying the combination to a situation. That is “knowing” what to do given information already stored in long term memory and information just received via any one of the five senses. Skills are the physical activities a worker must perform to complete a task. How well a worker performs and uses knowledge is a function of talent. Knowledge is taught, skills are perfected over time and talent is God-given. For example soccer players know the rules of soccer (knowledge), can dribble (skill) but on average shorter players with lower center of gravity can dribble and run with the ball better than taller players while taller player have an advantage over shorter player for aerial balls (talent – height is God-given). What psychomotor skills does he expect biotechnologist to have that the education system is not providing?
This stupid old goat had to say something ever since he was appointed to that stupid ministry.
In the days of the Bible, folk had a practical education alongside a degree. One example, Paul, a theologian. His father, a Pharisee sent him at age 15-13, to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, an eminent teacher of Jewish Law. Paul could turn to tent-making when the need arose, a skill he learned in his youth. Acts 18:3, and Acts 22:3; 26:4-5. Not a bad idea.