MESSAGE FROM THE CEO AND PRINCIPAL
The honour and pleasure I feel at this opportunity to lead the Kubu Science and Technology Institute as CEO and Principal is immeasurable. Having been part of the higher educational landscape of South Africa for the better part of two decades, and being a parent for most of my adult life, I have seen it all both from within and outside. I have seen the confidence and hope of the early years of democracy yield to the frustrations and despair of recent years. Across the globe, far-reaching changes have occurred that both challenge and motivate us, bringing us to this crossroads where a definite and concrete intervention can no longer be avoided. Kubu Science and Technology Institute (KS&TI) is here to confront those challenges head-on by deploying the latest technologies and innovative practices in the education arena. South Africa is at a stage where the majority of youth are desirous of higher educational qualifications but are hampered by intractable obstacles, not the least of which are high rates of poverty and unemployment.
KS&TI’s particular appeal is its pro-youth focus and its careful positioning to be at the forefront of the wars against inequality, poverty and unemployment in South Africa. From the outset, KS&TI adopts an entrepreneurial model that frontally attacks those factors that not only prevent youth from actualizing their dreams, but frustrates adults and parents from keeping their wards in school until the successful completion of their programmes. We will not only empower students and young people, we will afford lifelong opportunities for learning for those who must combine learning with livelihood pursuits.
Entrepreneurship is encouraged and nurtured through an ecosystem that integrates teaching, research, and industry needs, constraints and prospects. Staff members of KS&TI are committed to their roles of ensuring that the Institute is entrepreneurial by systematic and purposeful exploitation of flexibilities in the existing curricula.
Entrepreneurship development is embraced at the executive level and is spelled out in the vision of the Institute. The establishment of Technology Transfer Incubation Centres and Innovation Hubs is one avenue through which support is extended to the prospective entrepreneurs.
Our vision is being realized by pursuing and maintaining excellence through groundbreaking teaching, research and innovation. Landing on the scene at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, KS&TI is optimizing the use of science and new technologies to demonstrate the win-win nexus among excellence, integrity, entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability.
KS&TI has five faculties focusing on Health and Education Sciences, Management Science and Law, Science and Agriculture, Arts, Technology and Engineering.
Our Teaching and Learning approach is student-centered with methodologies focusing on small classrooms where students learn in small groups following Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Case-Based Teaching (CBT) practices. The methodologies are innovative and develop students’ critical thinking, problem solving, independent thinking and functioning, effective communication and self-directed learning, within an entrepreneurial space. Programmes in KS&TI are offered in world class classrooms and are high in technology. We are practicalizing a multimodal approach to teaching and learning, which allows for face-to-face and online learning to be adjusted by aligning with the profile and circumstances of the clientele. To prepare our students to hit the ground running upon graduation, our Work Integrated Learning (WILL) approach has been specially modified to seamlessly introduce students into the world of work as entrepreneurs and prospective employers.
Research in KS&TI is based on niche areas in each Faculty that are approved on the basis of compliance with national and global developmental thematic interests. We believe that Research, Innovation and Technology are the three legs on which societal progress rests. All the academic staff are supported to attract research grants, which finance their path-breaking research that must translate to practical projects that change the lives of communities and become the nuclei of start-up businesses for students, industry, and government.
At KS&TI, Community Engagement does not merely spring from a fertile imagination to introduce what draws the most applause, but is anchored on sound scientific enquiry about local needs where markets have failed to provide solutions. We allow these ideas to emerge through the quadruple helix of scientific research findings, community expressed needs, business facilitation and government policy. This ensures that duplications are eliminated and that every activity fits into the broader development programme of South Africa. In a way, we use our Community Engagement Programmes to forge and strengthen the much-desired partnerships among all segments of society as envisaged in the Sustainable Development Goals and in line with the priorities of the South African Government.
I look forward to our productive collaboration as we give voice and effect to our motto “We are united in Excellence and Innovation”.
Professor Eunice Seekoe
CEO and Principal,
Kubu Science & Technology Institute