The relevance of surveying content in mining engineering education

The University of the Witwatersrand School of Mining Engineering (Wits Mining) has its origins in the South African School of Mines, which was established in 1896. It is currently recognised as one of the world’s top mining engineering schools that educate mining engineering candidates to become qualified to specialise in a variety of disciplines required in a modern mining environment. At undergraduate level, Wits mining offers one degree programme – B.Sc. in mining engineering. The role of Wits Mining has been one of successfully facilitating the continuous professional development of mining engineers and mining specialists like mine surveyors.The paper will highlight the surveying content that is relevant to the mining engineering programme according to the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) by show-casing the surveying content within the Wits Mining programme and comparing this with what is obtainable at other international schools of mining engineering, such as Aachen University (Germany), the University of Mines and Technology (Ghana) and the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). The training of mine surveyors is well established in South Africa, and Wits University is an institution where a mine surveyor can obtain a Master’s degree specialising in any one of 5 mining specialisations, including Mine Surveying. This article attempts to answer the question as to what mining engineers should know about mine surveying. The paper will also explain how mine surveying training is beneficial to a mining engineer’s career development.Keywords: Education; specialisation; degree programme; Wits minin

MOBILE LEARNING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: PANACEA FOR DRIVING INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

Evidence from the literature reveals that the quality of the populace affects the level of development; hence, education is a vital ingredient because of the role it plays in improving the quality of people. Less developed regions, however, have not been able to tap adequately into the opportunities provided by education to improve their people’s quality. Some of the factors responsible for this include non-availability, limited access and high costs of education. This study, therefore, explores the possibility of facilitating inclusive development via mobile learning in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), considering the level of possession of mobile devices in SSA and the opportunities to provide information and knowledge affordably via the platform