FORMER opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has announced plans to introduce a comprehensive citizens’ affairs plan, aimed at addressing Zimbabwe’s brain drain and ensuring that educational achievements translate to tangible growth and prosperity.
The plan, according to Chamisa, will utilise data, evidence and statistical models to guide individual citizens’ development from birth.
It will assign a national identity, social security, citizen number and voter registration identification to each citizen, triggering activation upon completion of testing and qualification.
In a statement yesterday, Chamisa said his government would ensure that the job market was ready to receive graduates with ideal opportunities, addressing the issue of joblessness among trained profe\ssionals.
“As a proposal, these issues should be addressed from birth through a rigorous system that from birth assigns a national identity assigning each citizen a birth, identity, social security, citizen number and voter registration identification to be triggered when the testing and qualification is completed.
“Through this level of monitoring and relationship with other data across the economic and social sectors, there is an opportunity to ensure when each student graduates with a qualification, the job market is ready to receive them with the most ideal opportunity best placed to move forward our country’s transformational and developmental needs,” the opposition politician said.
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“This idea of graduates being jobless or trained professionals joining the jobless heap must be and will be a thing of the past. Just this past weekend, we had the University of Zimbabwe 43rd graduation ceremony.
“A whopping 6 778 students graduated from the University of Zimbabwe, including 200 medical doctors among the 898 medical specialists, 256 lawyers and 327 engineers. Sadly, we only had 16 dentists and 83 pharmacists graduating, an area that calls for significant improvement.”
He said the graduation came at a time when the market had no corresponding absorption capacity on account of the industry shrinking due to the economic and political environment.
“We produce graduates, but we have no viable market absorption plan to cater for the trained professionals we spew out year in and out,” Chamisa said.
He said the plan would monitor and relate data across economic and social sectors, providing a comprehensive approach to citizens’ affairs.
“Despite the huge investments made especially by students and sacrifices by families in these difficult times, there is currently no effective citizens’ affairs plan to provide these graduates with a clear career path.
“This lack of opportunity and strategic planning means that our nation’s investment in education often fails to yield meaningful returns which could move us forward as a country,” Chamisa said.
“We then suffer a significant brain drain and a human capital haemorrhage with our shining young talent building other nations outside of Zimbabwe.
“Too many graduates either leave to seek greener pastures and employment opportunities abroad or remain unemployed at home, joining the thousands already struggling without gainful employment or enterprise.
“Only by implementing a radical, elaborate, thoughtful and inclusive citizens’ affairs plan can educational achievements be transformed into tangible growth and prosperity for all, for everyone and for the whole nation.”