FORMER Grade 12s in Zimba District have welcomed reforms at the Ministry of Technology and Science to enable them acquire bursaries in technical education.
The youths say the reforms will help address gaps particularly those caused by inefficiencies in accessing the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) bursary system.
The youths visited ZANIS Office in Zimba to air their appreciation and give solidarity to the government.
Group Spokesperson Gilbert Chintu, said youths are delighted because the government is determined that no student is left behind in accessing technical education to be implemented by Technical Education, Vocational, and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) bursary scholarships.
Mr Chintu observed that unemployment among youths is rampant in the country therefore, such initiatives like the TEVETA scholarship is welcome.
“We ex-G12s in Zimba District welcome progressive ideas in the form of technical bursaries aimed at uplifting our standard of life by advancing in education,” he said.
He appealed to the young people to apply themselves and benefit thoroughly from government empowerment programmes through bursaries to enhance and sharpen their life-saving-skills.
A few days ago, Minister of Technology and Science Felix Mutati unveiled an ambitious youths programme where youths can obtain necessary life skills through bursaries in key sectors such as mining, agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing, as laid out in the Eighth National Development Plan.
He expressed gratitude that TEVET enrolments had increased in the years from 34,000 in 2021 to over 96,000, last year.
The Minister advised both public and private institutions offering TEVET programmes to meet accreditation standards as non-compliant institutions risked losing their certifications, as demonstrated by the recent revocation of certifications from several institutions’ country-wide.