THE country’s human capital development is one of Zimbabwe’s success stories and has cushioned the country against illegal sanctions.
Following the imposition of illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, the country saw a mass exodus of its skilled personnel as they migrated to other countries for better opportunities.
This trend has continued over the years, as teachers, nurses, doctors among other professionals have left the country in search of greener pastures due to sanctions induced economic challenges.
The professionals that migrated to countries such as United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Canada among other nations have become the country’s brand ambassadors with their work ethic.
Some of them have occupied high ranking positions in global economies.
Their work ethic and skills are part of a legacy of human capital development which started when the country attained independence, making education accessible to all.
It is not surprising that during the Zimbabwe-Rwanda Investment and Trade Conference which occurred recently, President Paul Kagame said his country was keen to hire Zimbabwean teachers.
Diaspora-based Zimbabweans in 2020 sent home remittances amounting to nearly US$1 billion as they supported their families back home.
Others including the Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube have returned home to lend their skills to Government.
Many others have invested back in the country as home is always the best.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima said the country’s human capital success story will not be complete if it not tied to deliberate investments in the education sector.
While at independence, there was only a single university to accommodate the whole student population, the country has managed to construct a university and teacher’s college in each of the country’s 10 provinces.
“When we got independent the first thing that we did was to make sure that there is a school in every part of the country both primary and secondary school. The communities made tremendous investments into education. That foundation, was very good. We were affected by sanctions and there was a time we did not have any resources to plough into education,” said Prof Mavima.
“But the moment we got the opportunity we have started again to invest into education. You can see what is happening at the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry, the competence-based curriculum, which is already transforming an already good education system into a more practical oriented.
