“THINK in other terms” is the motto for the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and unbeknown to many the university was groundbreaking as it revolutionised university learning in the country. Led by the late national hero Professor Phineas Makhurane as the Vice Chancellor, Nust was the first university to introduce industrial attachment in Zimbabwe.
Industrial attachment is the process where students at universities and colleges conduct internships in the industry before completing studies.The success of industrial attachment saw other Zimbabwean higher and tertiary institutions introducing theprogramme which has become mandatory for all students before they exit university.
Students undergoing a four-year degree programme, undergo industrial attachment in their third year before returning to complete their studies and graduate with an Honours Degree.For those doing a five-year programme, they usually go for attachment in their fourth year.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Permanent Secretary Prof Fanuel Tagwira said: “Before industrial attachment was introduced by Nust, what happened is that students would simply do three years of theory, write their exams and go. The first time they got in contact with the real world of work, was when they had been offered a position,” said Prof Tagwira.
“So Nust revolutionised education by way of industrial attachment. It is not that they were the first to introduce industrial attachment as this was already done in developed countries. But they were the first to be bold enough to say we want our students to do a full year of industrial attachment before they graduate and that was (late) Prof Phineas Makhurane.”
He said the benefit of industrial attachment is that it has enabled students to have practical experience of what the industry expects from them while they also get to appreciate what employers want. Prof Tagwira said some of the graduates are identified and employed when they are on attachment.
“You will find out that many of our students, when they come back from industrial attachment, there is an element of understanding of the connection of what they are learning and what is happening in the real world of work. It also helps students to develop the mental transition from being an academic person to being a practical person. It helps them to understand what they would have learnt and how you apply it to the actual work that happens in industry,” said Prof Tagwira.
“Even for the employer it helps them to see in students that have come for attachment and what benefits they bring to their companies. We find that many students get jobs when they go for industrial attachment.”
He said while it is not the ministry’s position that lecturers have to go for attachment, it is encouraged that they familiarise themselves with industry trends.
“You find that when an academic member of staff has never worked in the industry, never attached to the industry many a time they remain attached to the theoretical level and they are not able to connect what they are teaching to what is happening in the industry,” he said.
Nust communication and marketing director Mr Thabani Mpofu said the concept of industrial attachment was introduced when the university started in 1991 to address the skills gaps.
“The university negotiated the model with major employers of professionals in Zimbabwe, marking the first phase of the introduction of industrial attachment. It is a concept inspired by the skills gap the country experienced post-independence, particularly in the science and engineering fields,” said Mr Mpofu.
“Normally, graduates go through graduate training programmes after graduation, but in our situation back then, the graduate would be the sole professional in her/his field within the organisation. This prompted Nust to introduce industrial attachment, as an academic-industry training programme to capacitate our graduates with practical skills.”
He said after the university introduced the programme, employers started preferring Nust-trained graduates when recruiting. Mr Mpofu said the industrial attachment programme has a major value-addition to degrees. He said students who go for attachment are expected to go beyond problem identification and analysis and focus on problem-solving, evaluation of the results and their validation against the original goals.
Mr Mpofu said industrial attachment set the stage for the successful implementation of Heritage-based Education 5.0 where there is a connection between expectations of the industry and delivery from universities. “Industrial attachment provides an enabling environment for cross-fertilisation between employers and universities in benchmarking competencies of graduates against perceived needs. It also prepares the same graduates for entrepreneurial pursuits, if they are so inclined. This is especially relevant within the Education 5.0 context,” said Mr Mpofu. — @nqotshili