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Venue: Delta Lecture Theatre

Date: Wednesday 8 June 2022

Google Meet Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpq0PJJsZAQ

Background

As the premier science and technology university in Zimbabwe, the National University of Science and Technology is thrilled to host and participate in the International Council on Archives (ICA) Week 2022 by commemorating 30 Years of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme in Bulawayo.The University plans to host a one-day commemoration event at its iconic Ceremonial Hall where distinguished scholars and internationally recognised speakers will deliver key presentations on the importance of bridging the gap between archives and the society for which these collections ultimately are purposed to serve. The theme of the ICA Week 2022 is #ArchivesAreYou. This ICA Week 2022 presents a public engagement opportunity to share and promote the undeniable connection and bridge archives have between the documentary heritage of a nation and its national memory, national culture and collective identity. As a University this ICA Week on #ArchivesAreYou will showcase the UNESCO theme at the event on Enlisting Documentary Heritage to Promote Inclusive, Just and Peaceful Societies.  This event will be an outstanding platform to promote public interest and awareness of the successful registration of historical records, the Les registers of Nehanda and Kaguvi, to the UNESCO Memory of the World collection of International registers in 2015. 

The ICA Week 2022 event will host amongst its significant scholars in attendance, representation from the UNESCO Zimbabwe Secretariat, senior staff from the National Archives of Zimbabwe and its parent Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, the Ministry of Sport Arts and Culture, leading oral historians on culture and heritage, practising and professional archivists, the student cohorts from undergraduate to postgraduate levels within the Faculty of Communication and Information Science. The event will also welcome in attendance interdisciplinary students from the other six Faculties. The extent of the event seeks to attract representatives also from other state universities with a focus, research thrust and interest on archives, information and culture.

  Objectives of Workshop

Borrowing from the ICA objectives, this International Archives Day seeks to:  

• raise public awareness of the importance of records and archives;
• raise awareness among senior decision-makers of the benefits of records management for good governance and development;
• improve the public, private and public sectors' understanding of the necessity of long-term archival preservation and access;
• showcase the unique, extraordinary, and rare documents preserved in archival institutions; and
• advance the image of records and archives to enhance their visibility university-wide, nationally and globally.  

Topics to be covered include:

• Background to the international Archives Week
• Memory of the world and liberation archives
• Migrated archives and solidarity in the archival space
• What it means to be an archivist and what archival records truly reflect
• Documentation of marginalised communities in Zimbabwe
• Areas of interest to universities and archives in the preservation of corporate memory
• Expectations of archives in the realisation of national plans
• Archival developments in the region – where are we

Expected Outcomes

It is hoped that participants will draw lessons from the workshop and incorporate the necessary strategies into their organisations.  Participants who are from NUST will develop an appreciation of the value of archives, value of liberation archives and be able to share important experiences to enable cooperation and collaboration in managing university records and archives. Students will develop confidence in their degree programmes. 

Facilitators

We have facilitators from UNESCO, Botswana and the National Archives of Zimbabwe assisted by the Records and Archives Management Lecturers.

The National University of Science and Technology looks forward to this exciting day and the participation of UNESCO in commemorating the International Council on Archives Week 2022 #ArchivesAreYou.  Log in on the following link:- Video call link: https://meet.google.com/toh-mcrv-orm 

Contact Information

For more information, kindly contact

Prof. P. Dewah, Chairperson Department of Records and Archives Management, NUST

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PROGRAMME DIRECTOR: Prof P. Dewah

ADMISSION INTO POSTGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMMES FACULTY OF THE BUILTY ENVIRONMENT.

Applications are invited from candidates who meet the requirements for entry into First Year Undergraduate Programmes.

For online application follow this link https://apply.nust.ac.zw/apply/

Or

Download the application form from this Website by following this link, complete the form and submit it to: 

The Senior Assistant Registrar,

Admissions and Student Records,

NUST,

Gwanda Road/Cecil Avenue,

P O Box AC 939 Ascot,

Bulawayo.

Enquiries should be directed to:

The Senior Assistant Registrar (Admissions and Student Records) Telephone: (+263) 292 -289557/282842/288413/284237      

Completed forms may also be submitted at our NUST Harare Office,

ZIMDEF House,

18572 off Mother Patrick Avenue,

Rotten Row,

Harare (Next to The Magistrate Court).

Payment Procedures

Application Fee

Zimbabwean Nationals

An application fee of US$10 or the ZWL interbank rate equivalent of the day must be paid during the online application process.

International Applicants

The application fee for International Applicants is US$20.

The closing date for applications is 20 June 2022.

Late application

The deadline for late applications is 30 June 2022. 

Zimbabwean Nationals' late application fee is US$15.

International Applicants' late application fee is US$30 

• Applicants are encouraged to utilise the online payment platform.
• Application fees may also be paid via the following modes: 

 For Zimbabwean Nationals:

• Cash at NUST Bulawayo Campus
• Swipe at NUST Bulawayo Campus/ Harare Office, Zimdef House
• Rtgs or a cash deposit into the following accounts:

POSTGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMMES FOR THE  2022 INTAKE

NB* All applications should be accompanied by copies of Birth Certificates, National ID, Educational Certificates and Marriage Certificates where applicable

THE term ‘cellphone farmer’ became a buzz word at the turn of the millennium to describe farmers who were hardly on the farms but would make phone calls to their workers to give
them instructions.

The cellphone farmers were blamed for poor yields as in most cases workers took advantage of their absence to either under perform or completely ignore their instructions. In the event of a mistake, corrective action could not be taken promptly to minimise prejudice.

Government has repeatedly said it does not condone cellphone farming which it says is largely to blame for underutilisation of land land thereby threatening food security.

Cellphone farming should however not be misconstrued to mean adopting Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve crop productivity.Government through the National Development Strategy 1 and Agriculture Recovery Plan strategy aims to transform the agricultural sector into a US$8,2 billion industry by 2024.

Mr Mthandazo Ncube, a final year Computer Science student at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) believes he is on course to revolutionise farming. He has devised a cellphone application called Easy Farm, whose aim is to make farming easier through provision of farming data to farmers.

Mr Ncube said his application mainly targets youthful farmers who always want to be on their cellphones to improve crop production. “Following President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030, which seeks to improve agriculture and the quality of agricultural produce, we developed Easy Farm, a mobile application mostly for the youths, who are venturing into agriculture.
Mr Ncube said instead of holding meetings to educate farmers, the information was now being sent to farmers through cellphones.

He said the new application provides detailed information about farming opportunities in each of the country’s provinces.

“When one opens the application, he or she selects the province where he or she is farming. When for example you select Matabeleland South province, it will give you a list of crops that are recommended for that province. On each and every crop there is information on planting dates, when to plant and the seed type to use in that region. We have different regions that receive different amounts of rains. Region 4 and 5 are usually associated with droughts so the regions need seed types that are drought tolerant,” said Mr Ncube.

He said the App also gives information on fertilisers to use in a particular region. There is also information on weed control and disease control for each gvien region. Mr Ncube said
the aim of the application is to educate farmers on how to effectively and efficiently work on the land to boost production.

“We are also working with other organisations such as Seed-Co and Agriculture Marketing Association so that we can provide accurate agriculture related information. We believe
that if farmers use this App, it will assist them to improve yields and minimise losses,” he said.

Nust’s communications and marketing director Mr Thabani Mpofu said the application is one of the several innovations soon to be launched by the university. “That Easy Farm application speaks to farming made easy. What has really motivated that project is the Government focus on promoting the youth to take up farming as a business. The youth are tech savvy, their methods of farming are different from the old generation of farmers. The youth rely on technology on almost everything. You can’t tell a young person to attend a farmers’ meeting in Matobo Ward 4.
You should instead give them the information on their mobile phones and that is what this App intends to do,” said Mr Mpofu. — @nqotshili.

PRESIDENTIAL envoy and Zimbabwe’s ambassador at-large to the Americans and Europe, Prophet Eubert Angel has encouraged students to choose entrepreneurship over employment.

The ambassador said this during a seminar at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) on Tuesday afternoon. “I was encouraged by the President to come here today and spread the spirit of entrepreneurship. What I always want to encourage young people is that you can start any entrepreneurial initiative before you even graduate. Being at a tertiary institution gives you an advantage to start using your skills and become a millionaire today,” he said

“Most students want to graduate so that they can be employed, that’s dangerous. Once you are employed and given a salary you become an employee and one thing about employees is that they never get rich. My mentor once told me that once you start receiving a salary you start developing an employee mentality and you will never become rich from a salary. Bosses are clever people, they pay you to do the things that they cannot do, and you work every day to put money in their pockets.”

He applauded the Second Republic’s Education 5.0 initiative which requires universities to launch outcomes-focused national development activities to ensure a competitive, modern and industrialised Zimbabwe.

“Take for instance companies like Google and Facebook, these are multi-million-dollar companies which were started whilst their owners were still in school. These people never waited to be employed that is why the President of Zimbabwe has introduced Education 5.0 which promotes innovation and industrialisation apart from teaching and research. In this digital age it is easy for people to make money,” Ambassador Angel said.

“I can give an example of my 17-year-old son who’s making at least US$7 000 a month and all he did was content creation. It is simple, you do not need to have a million dollars to start something, it only takes the phone you have right now and creating a YouTube channel and find your subject of interest and start talking about it. YouTube or any social media platform every day. You start from getting little and with time you continue rising and before you know it, you will be earning as much as US$7 000 yourself. It is possible.”

Ambassador Angel said the growth of the economy relies on entrepreneurs. “I often hear people saying I want to start something but the economy is not accommodative. In this digital age, one can never be bound by the economy because you are online you can never be suppressed by the economy of any country. Actually, the economy is enhanced by entrepreneurs. If everyone is waiting to receive a salary then the economy will never succeed, so we are the cause of the economy growing or depreciating,” he said.

“While others were losing jobs as part of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic others were seeing opportunities of making money and I tell you that someone out there made millions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Every problem there is in the economy means there is an opportunity for someone to make money. What we are usually told is that when you want to live better lives you need to vote someone in or someone out of power but what they never tell you is that you are the one responsible for your own livelihood.”

“I hope that when you all leave this place today, you will use the skills that you have gained so far to start something and l assure you that you can reach great level of wealth.
Ambassador Angel promised to pay tuition fees for at least 40 students who were present at the seminar. The students will be randomly selected by the Nust administration using the attendance register.

Nust Vice Chancellor Professor Mqhele Dlodlo thanked Ambassador Angel for the seminar.

“It is such a coincidence that I always sing the same gospel during orientation gatherings with new intakes. I always tell them that if you leave the institution and you are seeking
employment you need to come back and re-register so that we teach you again. When you leave this institution, you should be equipped with knowledge to start your own projects. Thank you, Ambassador Angel, for sharing this information with us today and I hope many have heard,” he said. – Yvonne Ncube, Chronicle Reporter

EVERY environmentalist’s nightmare may be turning into a blissful dream, following a game-changing innovation by a National University of Science and technology (Nust) graduate.
Plastic, that non-biodegradable pollutant that has been clogging the environment for centuries has been on a priority list for eradication by green earth advocates and now a
Nust student is proffering a solution.

Countries such as Kenya and Rwanda have banned the use of plastic bags for more environmentally friendly material.But Zimbabwe might just continue to use the plastic for prolonged periods as Nust youthful innovator has created a biodegradable plastic.

Ms Nontuthuzelo Ncube (27), a chemical engineering graduate, who is a tutorial assistant at the university has come up with a revolutionary concept to turn potato peels into plastic.She believes young people have a duty to solve problems they see in their communities and to her, litter is one of them.To put the plastic menace into context, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) estimates that the country generates about 300 tonnes of plastic waste every year.The centre for biological diversity, a United States of America-based environmental
watchdog says it takes about 1 000 years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill.

Unfortunately, the centre adds, the bags don’t break down completely but instead photodegrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment. Thanks to Ms Ncube, the horror of plastics that continue to kill marine life and compromise entire food chains, may soon be a thing of the past.

“My project is to produce biodegradable plastic from potato peels. The main idea behind the project is to eliminate problems that are caused by plastics. Plastics are nonbiodegradable meaning they don’t decompose. This means if the bio plastic is left it will decompose like other waste that we have like isitshwala. If we look at plastics, plastics fly all over and cause environmental problems,” said Ms Ncube, from Tjelanyemba in Matobo District.

She said her project falls within President Mnangagwa’s national vision of going green and adopting environmentally friendly products. “From the potato peels, the main thing that I’m extracting is the starch and that is the main ingredient that is replacing the plastics that are non-bio degradable. So, if a cow eats this plastic made from potato peels, it will be able to digest it as it is biodegradable,” said Ms Ncube.

So many times, farmers worry about their animals eating plastic as this results in cattle dying as they would have failed to digest it. Miss Ncube is working with Nust to make the innovation become a reality. Shortage of resources have resulted in young innovators struggling to have successful projects as some people end up stealing their ideas. “Most of the time we have challenges accessing equipment. Some of the equipment is not there particularly if I want to characterise something. I have to send samples to South Africa. It makes the project take too long to be completed but we must do these projects as fast as possible because if you take long to conduct research someone can even steal your idea and implement it,” said Ms Ncube.
She said her project is part of Education 5.0 which the Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Ministry is spearheading. Ms Ncube said the new education thrust enables youths to have a change of mindset from being job seekers to employment creators.

“We are always told that we need to start our own things as youths. We need to be innovative and Education 5.0 requires us to be innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs. This is another route that we can take. This project is promising, I’m actually enjoying doing it and one day it will pay in the long run,” said Ms Ncube. Nust’s director of communication and marketing Mr Thabani Mpofu said Ms Ncube’s innovation is one of the student-led projects being developed at the university’s innovation hub.

“Our thrust is that we are now producing entrepreneurial graduates. We want these students, by the time they graduate to have their own businesses. They should be able to create employment through those businesses that they would have incubated through the innovation hub. We don’t want to just prepare our students for a job market but we want them to be employers through their start-up companies,” said Mr Mpofu.

He said soon the university will be launching start-up companies inspired by students’ innovations. EMA spokesperson Ms Amkele Sidange said it was pleasing that local institutions were
finding solutions to the plastic menace.“We really appreciate where research and development is coming into play to identify solutions to plastic problems where they come up with alternatives that have no capacity to cause no further harm to the environment. As an agency we really applaud and call for more research and development to lasting solutions especially when there are solutions that are coming from locals, they tend to be affordable,” said Ms Sidange.

She said the country produces 300 tonnes of plastic annually and due to improper use, there is a lot of pollution that occurs and there is a need for drastic measures to arrest environmental contamination.
“In Zimbabwe about 18 percent of the waste that we generate is plastic that translates to plus or minus 300 tonnes of plastic per year. To some people this could be nothing but you need to look at the character of plastic. It is a light material in weight meaning that for it to occupy 300 tonnes, we need morespace,” she said.

“As Zimbabwe we have realised that plastic cause other problems like blocking of sewer resulting in blockages, they clog storm drains resulting in flash floods in urban areas and
to the farmers, it also affects them because when animals ingest plastics, they develop digestive problems resulting in some fatalities.” — @nqotshili

AMENDED 2021/2022 ACADEMIC CALENDAR YEAR AND FIRST SEMESTER 2022/2023 ACADEMIC YEAR   (EXCLUDING FACULTY OF MEDICINE)

MARCH 2022

 APRIL 2022 

MAY 2022

Face to face learning (including Practical Classes) begins for all Faculties (excluding FSTE): Thursday 5 May 2022

Online Registration closes: Friday 27 May 2022

JUNE 2022

Examinations for FSTE: 6 - 10 June 2022

Examinations for all other Faculties begin: Monday 13 June 2022

JULY 2022

Examinations end: Tuesday 5 July 2022

AUGUST 2022 

First Semester Face to Face lectures for FSTE: Monday 8 to Saturday 20 August 2022                                                                                            

Departmental Board of Examiners to consider Second Semester Examinations: Wednesday 10 August 2022

Faculty Board of Examiners to consider Second Semester Examinations: Monday 15 August 2022

Academic Board to consider escalated issues from Faculty Boards of Examiners: Wednesday 17 August 2022

 Learning continues online (FSTE): Monday 22 August 2022                                                                           

Registration and Orientation of First-Year students: 15 - 19 August 2022

Opening of Online Registration for Returning Students: Monday 22 August 2022

Face to Face learning for First Years begins: Monday 22 August 2022                                                                                   

Face to Face Learning Begins for Returning Students: Monday 29 August 2022                                                                                                              

B Ngwenya (Mr)

Registrar