HARARE, August 5 2024 – With a view to capacitate Zimbabwe’s national skills base and to offset existing gaps, Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) has partnered with Drone Solutions and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The two institutions signed a five-year MoU on 18 July 2024, that will culminate in the training of BUSE students to operate and fly drones. This includes the Remote Pilot License (RPL) which is a Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) requisite license to operate drones in Zimbabwe.

Speaking at BUSE, Chairman of Communications in the Science Department, Dr Lazarus Dokora indicated that the move was testament to the dedication that the university has in terms of spearheading national development.

“I think that we are drawing on the best of the private sector and its (Drone Solutions) is an institution that is futuristic in itself. Drawing these two together suggests that we are on the verge of a huge development for our university as well as for the country,” said Dokora.

He was of the belief that the significance was without precedence as it would educate community’s in rural areas on Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) as well as drones and how to integrate the duo and make meaningful use of them.

Acting Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Dr David Makwerere echoed Dokora’s sentiments, highlighting that this development would fit into BUSE’s motto that speaks about shaping and creating the future and building Zimbabwe.

Said Makwerere: “This is an opportunity to learn theory and practice, but more importantly, you may recall that in the national skills audit, there were a lot of gaps, particularly in a technological perspective that needed to be filled. The signing of this cooperation agreement is a very significant marker of progress to be made toward filling the national skills gap from a technological perspective.”

In addition, he stressed that embracing drone technology would go a long way into feeding the digital revolution to better the nation and spaces, remarking: “If you are not going to adapt, definitely you will perish. One sure way of adapting is to be conversant with drone technologies for employability and competitiveness as a global citizen.”

Meanwhile, General Manager and instructor at Drone Solutions Nokuthula Matsikiti expressed delight at the occasion, and encouraged prospective students not to be afraid to follow their aspirations.

“This is a very exciting and good opportunity that I am excited to be a part of the pioneers of these exciting adventures. Each and every young child from BUSE and the surrounding areas will be trained in this technology before they even graduate and that is an exciting issue,” she said.

She further encouraged the girl-child and every other aspiring drone pilot.

“So my sign off message is that there is nothing to be afraid of. The sky is not even the limit, it is the playground when we are talking drones, when we are talking aeronautical navigation. For the girl-child out there, come and let us paint the skies pink.”

BUSE has pledged that it will embark on a campaign that will see it spread its wings far beyond Bindura Town, educating and spreading digital awareness in the surrounding communities and the nation at large. To date, BUSE has visited Guruve and has planned to expand its outreach programs to Mt Darwin and Mbire.

“Notice that what we have also done is to create satellite BUSE friendship schools who will continue to benefit from the partnerships that the university has. We invest and it wouldn’t be surprising that in Mbire, we can spend a week providing the young people an appreciation of these new technologies,” said Dr Dokora.

Currently, Drone Solutions provides the RPL training which lasts two weeks: one week of theory and the other week for practical training at a specialized Drone Farm in the capital city Harare.

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