by Taurai Mazwi
The First lady Auxilia Mnangagwa has revealed that entrepreneurial innovation is the central component of education 5.0, which the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education started in response to vision 2030.
The First lady said this today at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Great Hall, whilst addressing female students from tertiary institutions in and around Harare and the business community.
She encouraged the girl child to take advantage of the opportunities set before them so that they get empowered.
“I call upon the girl child to seize this opportunity and set an example for these girl children, the time to empower the girl child is now. The time for the girl child to connect to the empowerment drive is now,” she said.
She added that the focus was to foster interaction between business people, female students and herself as a way of encouraging entrepreneurial innovation among our female students who will soon be graduating and getting into the world.
“Entrepreneurial innovation as you are all aware, is the central component of education 5.0, ‘kuziva nekugona’,” she said.
She said the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education was implementing education 5.0 in response to vision 2030.
The First lady went on to highlight the importance of the girl child across all sectors, commending Zimbabwean education system for increasing the enrolment of the girl child in schools.
“Improving the load of the girl child has been a consistent focus in various international, regional and local forums and today’s symposium is a contribution to these efforts to empower the girl child to an autonomous life that is synonymous with the ideals of equal rights that are currently driving global regional and local discourse
“It is commendable that the enrolment of girl children in learning institutes has been steadily increasing from primary to tertiary levels, a situation that demonstrates an increasing awareness among our citizens on the importance of the girl child in national development,” she said.
Students applauded the First Lady’s initiative as they acknowledged their lack of knowledge in the entrepreneurial world. They also appreciated the efforts she made of inviting the more than fifteen (15) businesses that had come to showcase their business opportunities.
She has for long expressed her desire to see girl children attaining their full potential and pledged to fight the challenges facing girls from infancy to adolescence and to a young mother. She added that girl children needed extra care and support through a listening ear
She has previously highlighted that only engagement with the girl child would improve the situation.
UNAIDS has for long been working with the office of the First Lady, to ensure high level leadership for an enabling legal, policy and resource environment that empowers adolescent girls, young people and key populations to exercise their sexual reproductive health rights and access quality integrated HIV, sexual and gender-based violence services.
This collaboration is enshrined in the work of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), which was established in 2002 to provide a platform for African First Ladies to “advocate for effective policies and strategies towards the elimination of HIV and AIDS, reduction of maternal and child mortality and the empowerment of women and children, through strategic partnerships in the spirit of solidarity.”
