Church Leaders Bemoan Government’s Low Recruitment Of Youths In Zimbabwe
By Desire Tshuma
As part of efforts to address the drug and substance abuse menance among the youth, the government through the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training yesterday met with church leaders in Harare to discuss how to fight the scourge in Zimbabwe.
The meeting was graced by the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Tino Machakaire.
Machakaire said he acknowledged that religious organizations played a critical role in shaping the development of youth and have programs dedicated to moulding and guiding them as they transverse the delicate phase of transitioning from childhood to adulthood.
“As shepherds of the youth in our congregations, we desire to get your views and ideas on ways to effectively collaborate to empower our youths and extricate them from this bondage,” said Machakaire.
He said the Ministry runs 45 Vocational Training Centers and 25 satellites throughout the country and to be accepted at these centres one did not need 5 O’Level passes but only passion and the ability to read and write.
Speaking on behalf of Zimbabwe Heads Of Christian Denominations and Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Bishop Never Muparutsa bemoaned the government’s slow pace in recruiting Youth Service attendees as a way of trying to reduce numbers of youth who are redundant.
“As you have informed us that today you have taken 1000 youth to training centres at Vhumba and Dayadaya, out of 5 million youth who are in the country, that number is too little ,” said Bishop Muparutsa.
He implored the government to take take the Youth Service In Zimbabwe as a subject in schools so that they catch them young.
“Youth Service In Zimbabwe should be taught in schools so that our children grow up with respect of our flag, respect of our nation and respect for Ubuntu,” he said.
Recently President Mnangagwa launched the Zimbabwe Multi-Sectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan 2024-2030 on June 26, 2024 to guide and coordinate all efforts by various stakeholders involved in the fight against drug and substance abuse.
