MTC lives to its ‘jewel of excellence’ tag
MUTARE Teachers’ College takes pride in being Zimbabwe’s premier teacher education college. Since its inception as Umtali Teachers’ Training School in 1956, the college has withstood the test of time and posted a number of milestone achievements.
The college vision
To be a leading teacher education institute that guarantees Zimbabwe as a leader in the production of adaptive, innovative and creative teachers.
The college mission statement To provide an effective system for the production of competent secondary school teachers who are globally competitive.
The college goals
To run an effective quality teacher education system geared towards the development and production of human capital for the sustenance and growth of the economy of Zimbabwe.
The college core values Patriotism, creativity, integrity (unhu/ubuntu), entrepreneurship, professionalism, multicultural tolerance,
innovativeness, inclusivity and industry.
Accolades
The college was presented with the 2018 Innotec Public Sector Finance Management Award of Excellence in Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting in Higher and Tertiary Education.
We were also overall winner, fourth category Higher and Tertiary Education, in Revenue Collection, Credit Control and Risk Management. These accolades lend credence, not only to our financial prudence but also to our ability to fulfil our institutional mandate to our optimum/ best with minimum risks. This puts us at the cutting edge of teacher education in Zimbabwe as epitomised by our proud “Jewel of Excellence” tag.
Projects
We are delighted that these accolades will be the spearhead for larger development breakthroughs at MTC, the “college of choice” in teacher education.
We hope to maintain our fastgrowth trajectory through concrete deliverables that speak to the New Dispensation’s transformational and development agenda.
Our “quick wins” are a clear testimony of this resolve. We have prioritised the refurbishment of hostel accommodation for our students and the erection of a perimeter wall. In the long term, we wish to build a two or three storey hostel for staff accommodation and install a solar system for pumping and heating water.
We have also empowered our staff and students, academically, by subscribing to the full range of e-journals on the ZILCH platform and are working flat out to have internet connection in all our hostels.
You will appreciate the financial implications in all this but our stakeholder must rest assured that our Finance Management Awards of Excellence are by no means mere hot air. We remain undaunted in our quest to maintain our “jewel of excellence” stripes. To this end, we will exploit the build, operate and transfer (BOT) initiatives and joint ventures with the corporate sector. We hope to fulfil our infrastructure aspirations in the shortest possible time.
Our flagship income generating projects namely, piggery, poultry, and beef cattle farming have grown in leaps and bounds. As we speak, there is a hive of activity at our newly acquired 135 hectare farm in Nyazura. We are putting up structures at the farm that will enable us to go into agriculture full swing. Our aim is to be entirely self-sufficient with respect to food provisions in the foreseeable future.
The curriculum
MTC is a remarkable institution that is internationally famed for its excellence in research, Inclusive Education, Education for Sustainable Development and commitment to a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) driven curriculum. Our drive is to prepare our products to meet the needs of the “digital kids” of this millennium and the challenges of the 21st century global economy. To this end, we have adopted computer aided pedagogical approaches.
For instance, in Clothing Technology and Design as well as in Art our students have been initiated into the professional world of digital designing by using AutoCAD.
An e-learning platform (known popularly on campus as Dorpo) has been developed. This is a home-grown platform that promotes the use of ICTs in education; anytime and anywhere learning; open learning opportunities to a wider community and enhanced accessibility to education.
In the coming year, our curriculum will include Building Technology and Agriculture. We hope to further widen the curriculum with the inclusion of other technical subjects like Wood Technology, Metal Technology and Technical Graphics
International programmes International programmes are among MTC’s flagship projects that provide credibility to its international acclaim.
◆ The Zim — Nam Teacher Training Programme in Science and Mathematics
◆ The Zim — Moz English Language Proficiency Programme
◆ The Zimbabwe Equatorial Guinea Teacher Training Programme
The jewel brand
The college produces a distinctive brand of a teacher informed by its core values. Our brand is patriotic, professional and entrepreneurial.
The jewel brand is dynamic and adaptive largely because it has the requisite skills and competencies to function in a globally competitive milieu, thanks to the college’ STEM compliant curriculum.
We delight in endowing our product with 21st century instructional methodologies that inculcate critical thinking, problem solving, creative and collaborative skills.
Our ‘‘jewel” brand is the product of a curriculum that puts MTC at the cutting edge of teacher education in Zimbabwe and the entire Southern African region.