Story by Tafara Chikumira
THE government has commissioned a new clinic and some utility vehicles at the Gweru Polytechnic College during the institution’s 34th graduation ceremony this Friday.
The clinic has modern facilities and will have a visiting doctor to cater for students and staff, while the utility vehicles are critical for the day-to-day operations at the institution.
The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Ambassador Frederick Shava, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Professor Fanuel Tagwira, says the government is impressed by the strides made by the institution in adding value to the Education 5.0 Model.
“Polytechnics are the drivers of industrialisation efforts. They develop people who drive our industries. Polytechnics must move to commercialisation. I am happy that Gweru Polytechnic has started this with two consortia. Let us now move to AI, the future lies in AI. In the next five years, everything will be AI driven. There is going to be a massive transformation of lives like never before. I therefore implore you to be ready to adopt such technologies.”
The institution has vowed to continue investing in low-hanging fruits through forging partnerships with the community.
“We want to partner with the Chirumanzu community so that we value add the honey production they are doing. We come in with expertise on harvesting and packaging so that the community will realise maximum benefits from their work. We believe value addition represents the future as we will also seek new markets for honey products,” Gweru Polytechnic College’s Principal Engineer, Washington Chandiwana said.
Some of the graduating students say they are ready to face the world after getting equipped with the necessary skills.
“I was doing Diesel Plant Fitting. I am now angling to open a workshop where I will focus on repairing mining equipment. I now have the necessary skills to start my own business,” a graduate stated.
“I was doing Mechanical Engineering. One good thing about me is that I was already doing some jobs in my spare time back home in Mazowe. This means that I will be starting from the jobs I have been doing in line with what I leant,” another noted.
“The good thing about the Education 5.0 Model is that it has prepared us to start our own businesses. I am ready to go and open a consultancy firm in procurement and logistics,” a graduating student said.
The ceremony saw 660 graduates, most of them women, being presented with various diploma certificates.
