Harare – In a policy-oriented address at the University of Zimbabwe on Tuesday, Speaker of Parliament and ZANU PF Secretary General Jacob Mudenda positioned Education 5.0 not as a novel curriculum but as a return to indigenous epistemological traditions, while urging systemic reforms to commercialise student innovation.

Mudenda’s remarks come as Zimbabwe formalises its heritage-based Education 5.0 model, a framework that integrates teaching, research, community service, innovation, and industrialisation into a unified fifth pillar. The model, championed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, seeks to decolonise knowledge production by anchoring higher learning in local challenges and resources.

Addressing UZ leadership, Mudenda framed Education 5.0 as “an education of intellectual movements” aimed at discovering new frontiers of knowledge.

He argued that the concept predates colonial education, citing African forebears who practiced iterative innovation. “To know better, you must move, not physically, but intellectually,” he said, contrasting static rote learning with dynamic problem-solving.

He invoked Vasco da Gama as a historical precedent for transcending cognitive boundaries, though he emphasised that Zimbabwe’s approach must be endigenous rather than imitative.

Central to Mudenda’s address was the need for a national mindset shift, from dependency to self-sufficiency, across all economic sectors. He stressed that commercialisation of student research hinges on robust intellectual property (IP) regimes, including copyrights and patents.

“These innovations need to be policed so they can be marketed and create wealth, not only for students but for the university itself,” he noted.

Mudenda revealed that ZANU PF is currently reviewing its education policy to align with Education 5.0 and will engage both government and tertiary institutions to streamline implementation. He cited China’s technological ascent as a benchmark for what Zimbabwe could achieve through sustained innovation-driven education.

Quoting a personal philosophy, “To know is to accept ignorance”, Mudenda challenged academics and students to adopt a culture of continuous improvement. “What you invent today must be better in five years,” he said, urging a reading culture to “break the horizon of the frontiers of ignorance.”

The tour concluded with Mudenda wishing UZ success as the vanguard of President Mnangagwa’s vision, positioning the university as a critical node in Zimbabwe’s broader industrialisation agenda.

Education 5.0 represents a departure from the traditional 3.0 (teaching, research, community engagement) and 4.0 (digitisation) models.

Conceived in Zimbabwe’s 2019 Heritage-Based Education 5.0 policy, it adds two pillars, innovation and industrialisation, to create a cyclical knowledge economy.

The framework mandates that universities produce graduates who not only understand theory but also prototype solutions, file patents, and spin off enterprises that address national needs such as food security, energy, and health.

Critics have questioned funding and infrastructural readiness, but proponents view it as Africa’s answer to Western-centric curricula, fostering homegrown technologies and reducing brain drain.