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BECSA Teachers and Polytechnic College, an associate college of the University of Zimbabwe (Department of Education) and duly registered with the Ministry of Higher, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development is committed to its key stakeholder — the student.
The college seeks to explore novel approaches to teaching and learning in the e-learning space to achieve an excellent service delivery mode in the physical and virtual classroom.
The BECSA way is that the learning experience of students is expected to be different by relaxing time and space constraints as well as providing easier access to information (online journals and e-books; student portals; etc.) — an achievement that should not be downplayed. To make this a reality every student who enrols for the teacher training programme will receive a laptop which will be their primary tool for navigating the college learner and student management systems.
With advances in technology, BECSA will deliver vocational and technical education through the incorporation of online as well as offline platforms. Though classroom-based training is still the dominant method of teaching in Southern Africa, blended learning is the way to go. BECSA will pioneer the use of educational software solutions, virtual learning platforms, simulations, and interactive multimedia content to provide training.
While much has been said about industrialisation in the country — focus for tertiary education institutions must be to produce innovative and creative graduates in the teaching and many a vocational profession.
“At BECSA we believe that the education system should churn out creators of employment through acquisition of specialised and relevant vocational skills. We are now past the age of pushing our young people to professions or vocations which merely make them wait for employers — by virtue of training they must be their own employers, with solutions to the changing world business environment,” the college administrator Mr B Kanengoni was quoted as saying.
The BECSA way means the graduate teacher in particular will specialise in at least one skill which will usher them into entrepreneurship. The teacher trained at BECSA must not only be computer literate but also technologically versatile with an excellent ability to impart acquired skills and knowledge competently.
Speaking on the developments in the technical-vocational space, The Principal Mr Mathamsanqa Dube commented that,
“While it is good to offer the basics in carpentry and joinery for example, the international trend is that training focuses also on the use of new technologies in these vocations for example wood machining and design machining instead of the manual approach, these approaches are efficient, fast without losing artistry.”
One challenge that BECSA is ready to face is to re-think the traditional mindset to teaching and learning and dare to try new ideas so as to produce different results. To do the same thing and expect a different result is a mere impossibility — therefore the new thinking at BECSA is to transcend conventional thought patterns.
Online Reporter