The UNESCO TechSpark Project team aimed at Technology Empowerment and Competency Enhancement for Skills, Professional Articulation and Knowledge Innovation (UNESCO ROSA) visited the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) for a needs assessment on Friday, 07 March 2025.
The three-member delegation headed by Prof Wenming Yang, UNESCO chairholder on Digitalisation in TVET UNESCO UNEVOC Centre, UNESCO TECHShenzhen Politechnic University met with university management, academic staff, and toured some laboratories, workshops, and the Innovation Hub. the other members of the delegation included Ms Qingling Kong, the UNESCO ROSA Programme Specialist, Ms Niry ratsarazaka, Associate Programme Specialist and Ms Lin Jia, a sponsored trainee.
The needs assessment exercise is being conducted from March 2025 to understand HIT’s needs as related to the Tech Spark Project on curriculum development, training programmes, education technology integration, work-based training, as well as linkages with industry and commerce. It also seeks to identify key issues and opportunities in leveraging simulation learning for skills development in higher technical education at HIT and other partner institutions.
A formulation report shall be developed specifying findings from the needs assessment with HIT and the other partner institutions with key issues to be addressed and recommendations for interventions by May 2025.
The UNESCO Tech Spark project aims to empower youth with skills, professional attributes, and digital competencies by leveraging simulation learning technology for teaching and training. It also enhances the capacity of higher education institutions to navigate digital transformation and contributes to knowledge innovation at the national level.
Through the facilitation of access to educational technologies and simulation learning platforms in Africa, the project also contributes to bridging the digital divide, enabling African youth to acquire skills and competencies critical to the digital era. This in turn, nurtures a generation of innovators to drive Africa’s transformation in the long run.
The project will be implemented over 3 years (36 months) from to 2027 in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Mrs Rachel Chikoore, Dean of the School of Information Science and Technology, is the Tech Spark Focal Point Person at HIT leading a team from various academic departments and Centres of Excellence.
