Zimbabwe, Russia standardise professional qualifications

ZIMBABWEANS who study in Russia can now start their careers locally without doing the conversion of degree programmes as the Government strengthens inter-cooperation with Russian universities for mutually beneficial outcomes and in the field of mining in particular, to improve explorations.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister, Professor Amon Murwira, said this following his participation at the World Youth Festival (WYF) that ran from March 1 to 7 in Sochi, Russia.

Prof Murwira participated in high-level discussions with Russian technocrats and universities as part of the enhanced cooperation in the field of science and technology.

He visited Sochi University, and Sirius University while engaging with the Science and Higher Education Minister of the Russian Federation to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

The Russian Federation presents a lot of learning opportunities for Zimbabwean students, especially on e-governance while also innovating in agriculture and mining. The Russians are exploring technologies for growing crops in areas affected by snow and the minister was exposed to the technologies.

Prof Murwira yesterday described the engagements as highly productive and said these would be key for the country's development thrust.

He said following his high-level engagements with the Eastern European-Asian giant this month, the country will sign several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), to operationalise the cooperation.

Prof Murwira said Russia was big on utilising its resources as observed at the University of Sochi, whose programming is centred on tourism and hospitality as the city is a tourist destination.

Following President Mnangagwa's ascension to power, the country has moved to adopt Heritage Based Education 5.0, whose thrust is to utilise local resources for the development of the country under the philosophy "Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo/Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo".

Prof Murwira said while Zimbabwe had previously enjoyed friendly relations with Russia, the relations are transforming to tangible economic benefits, particularly in the Second Republic.

"We were always working since pre-independence but the breakthrough that we have been able to do in the Second Republic is to formalise our relationship. We have signed agreements in science, technology cooperation and innovation. We signed an agreement in higher education and training," said Prof Murwira.

He said, for instance, two years ago a Zimbabwean who studied in Russian would have to undergo a programme re-evaluation but this has been scrapped.

"We signed an agreement in mutual recognition of qualification, which means our education system has been made inter-operable.

"If you graduate here (in Russia),at home it is an automatic recognition. If you come from Zimbabwe with a Zimbabwean qualification and enter the education system here without question, the only difference is that when you come here you might need to learn the Russian language," said Prof Murwira.

"Someone who graduates from here can automatically go into our systems. In the past it was not like that, we signed that agreement two years ago, so a person had to be re-evaluated before a person had to be evaluated in Zimbabwe. But we have made that breakthrough."

The minister said Zimbabwe has also signed a deal with Russia's atomic agency Rosatom in the field of nuclear technologies while Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency is also in cooperation with Russia's space agency, Roscosmos.

"We have cooperation in mining and Zimbabwe is part of the mining consortium of Africa and we are coordinating the construction of a centre of minerals and underground resources, which we call sub-soil economy," said Prof Murwira.

"We are having very vibrant and active relations and the engagements were highly productive. We expect to sign some of the MoUs with the Russian institutions before the end of this month," he added.

Prof Murwira said universities mandated to innovate around mining technologies such as Gwanda State University, Midlands State University and the Pan African Minerals University of Science and Technology (Pamust) are expected to benefit from the partnership.

He said his visit to institutions such as Sirius University proved how critical the Russian Federation values education as a vehicle of development.

"Higher education is taken seriously and it is the one that propels them to the next level just like what we are doing. In terms of development, there is nothing called too late. Our takeaway is increased cooperation in an open world of science," said the minister.

"Technology and innovation are the basis of a nation's progress and there is no trial and error about this one. It's about knowledge and skills with educating the youth at the centre of it," said Prof Murwira.