China’s Role in Zimbabwe’s Human Resource Development Matrix
December 11, 2015
Opinion & Analysis
Features Correspondents
Zimbabwe Herald
Western education is revered not only in Zimbabwe, but the world over since it is regarded as a pacesetter. This dominance over the years is evidenced by the large number of even high-ranking individuals who graduated from universities in countries including USA, Britain, the Netherlands and Italy, just to mention a few.
Recently, Zimbabwe has witnessed an increase in the number of students enrolling with Asian Universities in countries like China, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.
Through establishing bilateral cooperation with the Asian Universities many institutions of higher learning have benefited from training of personnel in Asia.
The University of Zimbabwe is one such institution which has strong ties with Universities in China culminating in the setting up of the Confucius Institute, first of its kind in Zimbabwe and second in the southern African region.
Generally, there are a lot of Zimbabweans training or learning in Asia.
Ken Robinson famously remarked that ‘human resources are like natural resources; they’re often buried deep.
You have to go looking for them, they’re not just lying around on the surface.
You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.’
This in away reflects most people’s educational and professional trajectories. The ultimate goal of any individual in undertaking training is to become a human resource.
Among the definitions of human resource are; the personnel of a business or organization, regarded as a significant asset in terms of skills and abilities; and the workforce or staff who occupy certain job to perform certain duties and responsibilities entrusted by the management of an organisation. Every country needs human resources for prosperity of its industry and economy.
This in essence means a country should create its own human resource base.
The final part of Robinson’s quotation is a very important parameter in the whole matrix of human capital development- you have to create the circumstances where they [human resource] show themselves.
Currently, Zimbabwe sits on the pole position in the literacy ranking in Africa.
This does not translate to a strong human resource base.
It only means the people are trainable. The Zimbabwean Government, private sector and other non-governmental organisations try, and they should be commended, to offer an enabling environment for education and training that translate to human capital wealth.
We will not delve into how many institutions are doing what, but the bottom line is that the country is doing well in trying to create circumstances for the human resources to show themselves, which we interpret to mean any opportunities to be trained on. With all these efforts, it takes a real friend to offer to partner another country in the creation of a conducive environment for human resource development.
China extended this olive branch to Zimbabwe and evidently, other developing and even developed countries.
China’s role in training Zimbabweans dates back to the liberation war days where a considerable number were trained for different personnel positions within the liberation movements. The trend continued even after independence. A sneak peak, from 1995 to August 2015, 320 Zimbabweans have received Government scholarships to study in China, and this year alone 27 were added to the list.
However, the number of Zimbabweans who have graduated from Chinese institutions runs into several thousands as a result of other funded programmes, including Hanban scholarships.
Zimbabweans from the public and private sectors graduated from various institutions in China ranging from short courses; Undergraduate; Masters; to Doctoral Degrees.
Training opportunities cover various fields such as Agriculture, Public Health, Education, Natural Resources Management (water and Mining), Environmental Management, Public Policy, Trade and Diplomacy, Language Specialists, Financial Management, Governance and Administration, Technical and Vocational education, just to mention a few.
The fields mentioned above are critical for Zimbabwe, a country that seeks self sustenance through promoting agriculture and value addition, among other things.
These fields show the importance of the role China is playing in the development of the human capital base by complementing Zimbabwe’s efforts in tertiary training.
Let us not forget, and we should appreciate, that this comes at a cost to the host government.
A true friend in the frame of the People’s Republic of China knows that if human resources are critical for them, then they should also be critical for their friends.
Hence the need to take an initiative to collaborate in making sure there is enough manpower for the relevant productive sectors of the economy. This is however, not to say there is no shortage of human resource in Zimbabwe but let us loud the efforts by China to alleviate the possibly crippling shortage.
Language and cultural exchanges have also been the main pillars in the building and cementing of a strong human resource development between Zimbabwe and China.
People to people exchanges have allowed a socio-cultural bond that has seen a cordial relationship between the two great societies.
One would want to understand what language has got to do with human development.
It is profoundly known that when there is good communication through one common language, then two parties or more would be able to understand each other to carry on with the intended task.
Zimbabwe has been integrating the work ethics of the Chinese people and the art of patriotism, which encourages people to feel obliged to work for their nation and bring sustainable development and general economic growth.
China’s economic development with Chinese characteristics, as Deng Xiaoping once said, it does matter what colour the cat is as long as it catches the mice.
Therefore as Zimbabweans we can build our nation with Zimbabwean characteristics that give impetus to economic growth through the empowerment of our people.
There are other enviable initiatives we as Zimbabwe can borrow from China. A good example is the “hitting the head of the Tiger” to do away with corruption. Thus citizens must otherwise be equipped with the art of good governance, administrative skills, climate awareness, technological skills, peaceful development, innovation, entrepreneurship and most importantly patriotism.
Training is only possible if there is adequate basic education. To show that they have a real commitment to the human capital development in Zimbabwe, the Chinese government, through its embassy here, has been instrumental in development of educational infrastructure. Donating generators to Primary and Secondary Schools in Tokwe-Mukosi the former Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Lin Lin, said that China is more than willing and prepared to support Zimbabwe’s efforts in educational infrastructural development.
Forward looking, Zimbabweans should be optimistic. There is need for diligence and innovation in the face of adversity. With friends like China, the sky can be the only limit if the human resource base in Zimbabwe is to be exploited.
The article was written by the Zimbabwe’s China Alumni Association (ZCAA). The ZCAA is a non-profit organisation bringing together all the people who at any point were students at any Chinese learning institute.
Opinion & Analysis
Features Correspondents
Zimbabwe Herald
Western education is revered not only in Zimbabwe, but the world over since it is regarded as a pacesetter. This dominance over the years is evidenced by the large number of even high-ranking individuals who graduated from universities in countries including USA, Britain, the Netherlands and Italy, just to mention a few.
Recently, Zimbabwe has witnessed an increase in the number of students enrolling with Asian Universities in countries like China, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.
Through establishing bilateral cooperation with the Asian Universities many institutions of higher learning have benefited from training of personnel in Asia.
The University of Zimbabwe is one such institution which has strong ties with Universities in China culminating in the setting up of the Confucius Institute, first of its kind in Zimbabwe and second in the southern African region.
Generally, there are a lot of Zimbabweans training or learning in Asia.
Ken Robinson famously remarked that ‘human resources are like natural resources; they’re often buried deep.
You have to go looking for them, they’re not just lying around on the surface.
You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.’
This in away reflects most people’s educational and professional trajectories. The ultimate goal of any individual in undertaking training is to become a human resource.
Among the definitions of human resource are; the personnel of a business or organization, regarded as a significant asset in terms of skills and abilities; and the workforce or staff who occupy certain job to perform certain duties and responsibilities entrusted by the management of an organisation. Every country needs human resources for prosperity of its industry and economy.
This in essence means a country should create its own human resource base.
The final part of Robinson’s quotation is a very important parameter in the whole matrix of human capital development- you have to create the circumstances where they [human resource] show themselves.
Currently, Zimbabwe sits on the pole position in the literacy ranking in Africa.
This does not translate to a strong human resource base.
It only means the people are trainable. The Zimbabwean Government, private sector and other non-governmental organisations try, and they should be commended, to offer an enabling environment for education and training that translate to human capital wealth.
We will not delve into how many institutions are doing what, but the bottom line is that the country is doing well in trying to create circumstances for the human resources to show themselves, which we interpret to mean any opportunities to be trained on. With all these efforts, it takes a real friend to offer to partner another country in the creation of a conducive environment for human resource development.
China extended this olive branch to Zimbabwe and evidently, other developing and even developed countries.
China’s role in training Zimbabweans dates back to the liberation war days where a considerable number were trained for different personnel positions within the liberation movements. The trend continued even after independence. A sneak peak, from 1995 to August 2015, 320 Zimbabweans have received Government scholarships to study in China, and this year alone 27 were added to the list.
However, the number of Zimbabweans who have graduated from Chinese institutions runs into several thousands as a result of other funded programmes, including Hanban scholarships.
Zimbabweans from the public and private sectors graduated from various institutions in China ranging from short courses; Undergraduate; Masters; to Doctoral Degrees.
Training opportunities cover various fields such as Agriculture, Public Health, Education, Natural Resources Management (water and Mining), Environmental Management, Public Policy, Trade and Diplomacy, Language Specialists, Financial Management, Governance and Administration, Technical and Vocational education, just to mention a few.
The fields mentioned above are critical for Zimbabwe, a country that seeks self sustenance through promoting agriculture and value addition, among other things.
These fields show the importance of the role China is playing in the development of the human capital base by complementing Zimbabwe’s efforts in tertiary training.
Let us not forget, and we should appreciate, that this comes at a cost to the host government.
A true friend in the frame of the People’s Republic of China knows that if human resources are critical for them, then they should also be critical for their friends.
Hence the need to take an initiative to collaborate in making sure there is enough manpower for the relevant productive sectors of the economy. This is however, not to say there is no shortage of human resource in Zimbabwe but let us loud the efforts by China to alleviate the possibly crippling shortage.
Language and cultural exchanges have also been the main pillars in the building and cementing of a strong human resource development between Zimbabwe and China.
People to people exchanges have allowed a socio-cultural bond that has seen a cordial relationship between the two great societies.
One would want to understand what language has got to do with human development.
It is profoundly known that when there is good communication through one common language, then two parties or more would be able to understand each other to carry on with the intended task.
Zimbabwe has been integrating the work ethics of the Chinese people and the art of patriotism, which encourages people to feel obliged to work for their nation and bring sustainable development and general economic growth.
China’s economic development with Chinese characteristics, as Deng Xiaoping once said, it does matter what colour the cat is as long as it catches the mice.
Therefore as Zimbabweans we can build our nation with Zimbabwean characteristics that give impetus to economic growth through the empowerment of our people.
There are other enviable initiatives we as Zimbabwe can borrow from China. A good example is the “hitting the head of the Tiger” to do away with corruption. Thus citizens must otherwise be equipped with the art of good governance, administrative skills, climate awareness, technological skills, peaceful development, innovation, entrepreneurship and most importantly patriotism.
Training is only possible if there is adequate basic education. To show that they have a real commitment to the human capital development in Zimbabwe, the Chinese government, through its embassy here, has been instrumental in development of educational infrastructure. Donating generators to Primary and Secondary Schools in Tokwe-Mukosi the former Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Lin Lin, said that China is more than willing and prepared to support Zimbabwe’s efforts in educational infrastructural development.
Forward looking, Zimbabweans should be optimistic. There is need for diligence and innovation in the face of adversity. With friends like China, the sky can be the only limit if the human resource base in Zimbabwe is to be exploited.
The article was written by the Zimbabwe’s China Alumni Association (ZCAA). The ZCAA is a non-profit organisation bringing together all the people who at any point were students at any Chinese learning institute.
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