Online Desk |  10 months ago | top

Government through the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) in partnership with Malaysia Binary University of Management and Entrepreneurship is set to roll out a distance learning programme for rural areas in an effort to empower these communities through education.

Addressing the media after meeting President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State house in Harare yesterday, Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science, and Technology Development, Permanent Secretary Professor Fanuel Tagwira said the program will start in February next year after a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the two universities.

Malaysia Binary University of Management and Entrepreneurship executive chairperson Professor Joseph Adalkalam outlined some of the benefits of the programme.

"The outcome of the Rural Education Transformation Programme is to create different types of talents that can support the industry development of this country.

"We call that talent Industry specialist professionals and Binary university has been

producing these for more than 40 years throughout the world,' he said.

Prof Adalkalam said students used to come to

Malaysia to become industrial specialist

professionals, but that is costly hence a resolution to bring education to Zimbabwe using technology and partnership with ZOU.

"The industry specialist professionals can work

anywhere around the world but at the same time we are mindful of the fact that we want to keep them in their villages so that they can be

engaged in jobs that will be created through partnerships" he said.