By Rudo Saungweme

The 2019-2020 budget emphasises on the need to work with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education so as to implement the new Higher and Tertiary Education (HTE) model 5.0 which advocates for the construction of Innovation Hubs, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said this while addressing the Parliament Pre-budget Seminar in Victoria Falls.

Professor Ncube also said the budget to be presented next week seeks to create jobs for the youth and women through funding and start-ups, expansion and capacitating vocational institutions, use of taxes and incentives to incentivise youth and women employment and construction of Innovation Hubs under HTE 5.0.

“We want to target especially women entrepreneurs. We are very serious about that. It is also important for us to strengthen the vocational education side of our higher education by focusing on skills development. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education is serious about that.

“Those apprenticeship programs that have disappeared will come back to strengthen and build the skills element for future entrepreneurs. This means implementing working education model 5.0 which uses Innovation Hubs to transcend knowledge into final production. In doing so we must incorporate the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education in the budget,” said the Minister.

The HTE 5.0 focuses on innovation and industrialisation. Previously the education system in Zimbabwe was rated as HTE 3.0 model which focused more on teaching, research and community service.