Bindura University of Science Education
The rise of digital technologies has created the need for specific skills and expertise. As digital channels have been evolving, the Bindura University has noticed there has been a substantial gap in the market when it comes to digital capability; Conscious of the lack of training opportunities, the University realized that Zimbabwean professionals have not had access to the appropriate preparation to address the gaps in their skill set. “The penetration of digital skills in Zimbabwe is still low. Businesses are still at an entry level when it comes to the use of digital tools”.
What Zimbabwe’s workforce required was a certified program that ensured professionals such as entrepreneurs, managers, business owners, and any individual looking to learn digital had the opportunity to achieve an accreditation that helped them upskill in the vibrant field of digital. “The world has become digital. If graduands want to be successful in their careers they must own digital skills, otherwise they will miss out on important developments”
As the demand keeps growing at rapid speed, students and professionals are more willing to access digital education. As a result, the Bindura University has decided to seek a partner that can provide digital capacity through an established certification program.
The Solution
In a marketplace which demanded digitally skilled professionals, the Bindura University realized they needed to partner with an institution that could help them provide an industry ready curriculum that was able to combine academic know-how with professional experience. This requisite was crucial to ensure their graduates would step-change the penetration of digital skills in Zimbabwean businesses.
To ensure the curriculum provided the competitive edge that professionals required, it was necessary that the program was constantly updated and able to incorporate the latest trends and developments on a continuous basis; with this in mind, the Bindura University ensured the program was offered online, as well as designed and delivered in the UK, which is a core market for digital developments.
Digitally Smart has a proven-track of delivering cutting-edge training to African institutions (from leading universities to UNESCO, etc.), and has shown a profound understanding of the challenges and opportunities within African markets. The Bindura University realized that Digitally Smart was an obvious choice for them to make.
Once the partnership was established, the University of Bindura took a two-phased approach to delivering the digital syllabus. The first involved providing a digital marketing certification which laid the foundations of all things digital; the second phase offers a Professional Diploma and a full range of in-depth specialisation courses which help participants to obtain a competitive edge.
The Results
Supported by Digitally Smart, the partnership enables the Bindura University to upscale their lectures and provide a relevant and in demand course for students. From the start, the digital courses have proven very popular attracting professionals from all industries.
For Albert Musekiwa, chair of the Marketing department a t the Bindura University of Science Education, the collaboration with Digitally Smart has been exceptional. “Since we launched the program the demand has been growing at an exponential rate, and our expectations on student intake have long been exceeded”. The first evaluation has provided excellent results: 92% of participants indicate the training has positively impacted the organisation they work for, and 96% state the certification has been well regarded among employers.
Future plans for the partnership involve the Bindura University introducing a Master program with a specialisation on Digital Marketing. “It’s been a win-win situation, which above all has helped us to build a reputation as a tough leader in the digital space within our region”