Opportunities and challenges in implementing the Education 5.0 policy in tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe

Abstract

There is a recent growing interest among scholars, academics and policymakers to find a lasting intervention to resuscitate the Zimbabwean economy, which has been under-performing for the past three decades. The paper assesses the opportunities and challenges in implementing the recently introduced Education 5.0 policy drawing upon a case study data from the two selected tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe. The study is a qualitative research of an interpretive philosophical dimension. It generates data from conveniently selected research participants. The exploratory research design informs the data collection and the analysis that uses the thematic approach. Face-to-face in-depth interviews and document analysis were employed to generate data. The findings of this study reveal that the Education 5.0 policy has productive opportunities which immensely contributed to national economic development. Some of the productive opportunities include employment creation, increased trade, and exploitation of mineral resources, economic development and poverty alleviation. The findings also revealed some of the primary challenges of implementing the Education 5.0 policy that include lack of adequate government funding and support resistance to change, policy inconsistence and poor orientation of the policy. The study recommended that the government of Zimbabwe should conduct regular workshops to raise awareness of the Education 5.0 policy framework as well as maximizing funding efforts to ensure effective implementation in tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe.