PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday capped 1 708 graduands at Lupane State University’s 15th graduation ceremony, giving academic honours to a cohort of students that the institution hailed as its first products of the Second Republic’s Heritage-based Education 5.0 Framework.
Female graduands constituted 59 percent of the graduands where Colleen Maseko (BSc Honours, Environmental Science), and Tinei Mugande (BComm Honours, Entrepreneurship) walked away from the ceremony US$1 000 richer after they won the Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Chancellor’s Award for best-graduating male and female student respectively.
In addition, the same award was also given to a quartet of students whose projects were deemed to have had the most significant community impact.
Among the four was Umkhathi Theatre Works founder Mr Matesu Dube, whose final year project titled “The Journey of Umkhathi Theatre Works” made him the only recipient of the Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Chancellor’s Award from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences this year.
The three other winners were Wenzile Nyathi from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences for her final year project titled “The effect of organic nitrogen supplementation to basal substrate on oyster mushroom productivity”, Dylan Baloyi from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences for the final year project titled “Adoption of an Artificial Intelligence career projector to Zimbabwe’s Tertiary Education System” and Sihlonitshiwe Hlabangana from the Faculty of commerce for the final year project titled “The application of digitalisation of Small Enterprises in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry.”
The quartet received US$500 for their impactful academic excellence.
LSU Vice Chancellor Professor Pardon Kuipa expressed satisfaction at the fact that, as the university celebrated 20 years of existence, 59 percent of graduates this year were female, as President Mnangagwa capped a total 1008 women during yesterday’s ceremony.
Prof Kuipa highlighted that this year’s ceremony, which was held under the theme, Celebrating two decades of empowering communities, shaping minds, and creating positive futures for all,” would give birth to a new breed of academics, as Second Republic’s Heritage-based Education 5.0 Framework encouraged self-sufficiency and fostered an entrepreneurial spirit.
“Today’s graduands are the first LSU products of the Second Republic’s Heritage-based Education 5.0 Framework that you launched in 2020. The graduands before you today are different from the previous cohorts in that they are graduating with entrepreneurial behaviours and attitudes, an entrepreneurial spirit and mindset, an entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurial competencies. The graduands have been exposed to real-life experiences, and have acquired the necessary skills, knowledge and competencies that are vital for their success in the world of work and for them to start their own businesses and create employment for their peers.
