'Zimbabwe producing half-baked graduates'

Most of the thousands of students churned out of the country's tertiary institutions are half-baked and do not have the requisite industrial skills required of them, a top government official has said.

Higher and Tertiary Education deputy minister Godfrey Gandawa admitted this in Parliament on Wednesday while responding to Mberengwa East MP Makhosini Hlongwane (Zanu-PF), who had asked if Zimbabwe was producing graduates who were relevant to the economy and industry.

Gandawa also told the House of Assembly that as a result of shortage of industrial skills, government would soon embark on an audit skills survey to identify the gaps in the higher education curriculum.

It is true that the graduates that are coming from the institutions of higher learning are lacking in certain skills that are demanded by industry, Gandawa said.

As a ministry, they have embarked on a programme, through the Manpower Advisory Council, which is represented by members of industry so that they get to understand the gaps in our curriculum and those particular skills lacking in industry.

Gandawa blamed universities and other institutions of higher learning for leaving out skills training while concentrating on commercial programmes