Source: Industrial attachment for technical college lecturers – DailyNews Live
Bernard Chiketo 28 August 2017
MUTARE – Government has expressed dissatisfaction at the quality of skills
being churned out by technical colleges, and called on lecturers to go for
industrial attachment.
Higher and Tertiary Education deputy minister Godfrey Gandawa said
polytechnics should move towards producing high-end engineering
technologists with the ability to adapt, re-engineer and even copy
imported technologies.
“Polytechnics have concentrated for some time on training low-end skills
with production mainly of artisans and technicians. The artisans’ role has
always been to repair, maintain, install and service machinery.
“…a shift should be made to focus on the production of high-end skills
through the training of engineering technologists to ensure the
adaptation, re-engineering and reverse engineering of imported
technologies,” Gandawa said.
He said these would also be able to transform ideas into patentable
technologies.
“This is the centrepiece of any successful industrialisation strategy.”
He said his ministry was in the process of carrying out a national skills
audit that would inform the nature of skills training institutions would
need to focus on in supporting industrialisation and modernisation.
Gandawa said lecturers should also go on industrial attachment if they are
to produce technicians that are relevant to the needs.
“Lecturing staff must attach themselves to industry to acquire requisite
skills that will allow them to produce a competent and relevant graduate
because technology in industry is fast changing.
“The ministry will soon make it mandatory, through policy, for all staff
to undergo industrial attachment as conditions of their employment,” he
said.
He also challenged them to upgrade their academic studies as polytechnics
are going to be moving towards offering technological degree programmes.
Gandawa expressed concern over the low uptake of engineering courses.
“The fact that only 38 females out of 264 students are graduating in
engineering is worrisome. Concerted efforts should be made if we are to
address this problem.”
College principal Poniso Watema said the college was deliberately taking a
bias towards STEM programmes with 56,8 percent of the 716 graduands being
artisans, technicians and technologists.
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