Chipinge Pupil Showcases Power of Heritage-Based Curriculum

By Effort Manono|
In a time when unemployment and poverty are pushing many communities into crisis—fueling crime, drug and substance abuse, and the gradual erosion of Ubuntu—Zimbabwe’s Heritage-Based Curriculum is proving that education can still rebuild hope, skills, and community values. Zimbabwean history books

A powerful example has emerged from Chipinge, where 18-year-old Tinotenda Mapipi has shown what happens when learning is rooted in culture, practical competence, and community problem-solving.


On the 19th of February 2026, the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Angeline Gata commissioned a locally made locomotive produced through work linked to the learning process at Chibuwe Technical High School.

The occasion did more than celebrate one learner’s success; it re-ignited national debate on why rural schools must protect and strengthen heritage-based education as a direct answer to economic hardship and moral breakdown in society.

Tinotenda Mapipi’s innovation stands as living proof that when education is grounded in heritage, culture, and hands-on skills, learners become creators rather than consumers of knowledge.

Instead of waiting for scarce formal employment, such learners develop the confidence and competence to build, repair, design, and innovate—skills that can translate into income, community service, and local industrial activity.

At Chibuwe Technical High School, this approach is already visible through programmes that connect learning to real life: a driving school, a fishing project, cultural dance activities, and a media school that promotes the local Ndau language.

These are not decorative extras. They are routes into entrepreneurship, survival skills, social discipline, and cultural pride—qualities that communities urgently need when youth are being recruited by drugs, crime, and hopelessness.

The Heritage-Based Education model, grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, places strong emphasis on innovation and practical application. It seeks to produce self-reliant graduates who can solve local challenges and contribute meaningfully to development.

In rural communities, where poverty often limits opportunities, this approach closes the distance between classroom theory and everyday needs by turning schools into centres of production, cultural continuity, and social renewal.

The Director of the Platform for Youth and Community Development, Claris Madhuku, argues that the strength of heritage-based education is its capacity to defend and revitalise Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS).

“Inculcating and nurturing the talents of learners beyond the home into the community is the most essential source of learning and entrepreneurship by promoting culturally responsive teaching practice that solve problems,” Madhuku explained.

His message is clear: education should not detach learners from their communities; it should empower them to draw from local wisdom, resources, and lived experience to create solutions.

The commissioning of Tinotenda’s locomotive became a proud community moment.

Gata acknowledged the role of innovation and the value of community support in nurturing talent. Her remarks reinforced the need for collaboration between government, schools, families, and civic leaders to build environments where young innovators can grow—because talent develops best where the community protects it and celebrates it.

Tinotenda’s achievement is therefore more than a personal milestone. It demonstrates what rural schools can achieve when education aligns heritage, technical capability, and community participation.

It also offers a response to the social consequences of poverty: when learners are trained to produce value, they are less likely to fall into cycles of drug abuse, theft, and violence, and more likely to restore community pride through productive work.

In an era marked by unemployment and limited formal job opportunities, the Heritage-Based Curriculum offers a sustainable path forward. By equipping learners with technical expertise, entrepreneurial thinking, and respect for Indigenous Knowledge Systems, rural schools can produce graduates who do not merely seek jobs but create them—driving local development while strengthening the community value system of Ubuntu.

Tinotenda Mapipi’s locomotive is therefore not just a machine; it is a moving symbol of what becomes possible when heritage, innovation, and community responsibility unite.

According to the Headmaster, Mr Needmore Maposa, Chibuwe has set the tone, and it is now for other local schools to emulate and ground the national vision of the Heritage-Based Curriculum.