Radio programme supports new education drive
Hi valued listeners!
Head-to-Head with MM continues to gain listenership and interest from avid listeners who have an appetite for education developments and news in the country. Thanks to DiamondFM radio which keeps you engaged to news and developments brought to debate and discussion through this animated talkshow with Morris Mtisi.
Owing to increased listenership evidenced by a flurry of feedback from serious Head-to-Head followers, all seeking more distillation of wisdom on various aspects of education, the programme takes a responsive shift and effort towards establishing an active participatory education dialogue on radio.
Allow me to introduce to you my permanent or “official” guest on Head-toHead for the next 13 or so programmes of intensive education engagement and debate on various topics, Dr Hardson Kwandayi.
Dr Kwandayi is an informed and experienced education and public policy expert highly schooled in education transformation premised on best practices as well as public policy capacity building anchored on active participation. Head-to-Head with MM as a programme seeking new and wider audiences, assisted by Dr Kwandayi’s educational vision and knowledge base, thanks to his spirit of volunteerism, will from now on avidly generate education dialogue on radio.
This is intended to promote the value and principles of public participation in education development. It will also seriously and professionally generate constructive debate, heat and light around the issue of the new or updated curriculum with a view to mellow exaggeration and sensationalising of the curriculum, even blatant misunderstanding of its purpose and thrust.
It is my sincere hope that, as the secretary-general of the National Association of Secondary Heads ( NASH), Mr Moses Mukoyi says: “When the novelty (of the new curriculum) subsides, its salient and poignant features will become more familiar and customised.”
It is our duty as consumers of the new education system and its new policies to help each other to understand where we are coming from, where we are and where we want to arrive.
In this new Head-to-Head series, we will be free to discuss and debate, ask questions, provide suggestions and answers without fear or favour, but above all prepared to learn from those who know and understand more than us and others.
It is my vision that with this miracle of ICT connectivity around, one day very soon this programme shall be heard and viewed all over the world via Facebook and other platforms bringing together listeners and viewers to active and full participation.
Dr Kwandayi is an avid researcher and holds a PhD in higher education specialising in the economics of higher education, leadership, management, public policy and governance. He also studied Geography as part of his PhD programme focusing on Global Climatology, Sustainable Livelihoods and Geography Research. His higher education studies enabled him to appreciate the nexus between education and employment creation for the youth especially in the rapidly growing knowledge-based economy.
Dr Kwandayi’s other qualifications include a BA Honours (Geography), Grad CE; Dip. Ed; Masters in Educational Administration; all from the University of Zimbabwe. He also did post-doctoral coursework in Public Management with the University of South Africa ( UNISA). Additionally, Dr Kwandayi holds a Certificate in Human Resources Management from the Institute of Commercial Management, UK.
My guest was a visiting lecturer at Liverpool Hope University (1988) and Wye College, University of London (1999), both in the UK. He is currently an external moderator for PhD dissertations in several universities in the SADC region.
Dr Kwandayi’s long experience in higher education service motivated him to collaborate with others to establish the Centre for Public Participation in Education and Policy Alternatives ( CPPEPA), so that he could share his wider experience in education and public policy with the wider national and continental community. It is my honour and pleasure to announce the good doctor as my serial executive guest on Head-to-Head. Enjoy.