NUST Hosts SASE’s 50th Celebration with Renewed Call for Inclusive and Innovative Education
Victoria Falls, 23 September 2026
The Southern African Society for Education (SASE) has opened its 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Conference at Cresta Hotel, Victoria Falls, bringing together distinguished scholars, educators, policymakers, researchers and development partners from across the region.
Hosted by the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Faculty of Science and Technology Education, the three-day conference is being held under the theme:“50 Years of Reimagining Education in Southern Africa: Advancing Innovation and Inclusive Quality Education for Sustainable Development.”
The opening ceremony was led by SASE President Prof E.N. Cishe, Deputy President Prof A. Modise, Secretary General and Treasurer Prof M.C. Maphalala, Deputy Secretary General Prof M.S. Mabusela, and Chief Editor Prof B. Dube. The Local Organising Committee is chaired by Mr. Tapiwa Muzari, with Prof. D. Chasokela as Conference Coordinator and Prof. L. Sibanda, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology Education, providing leadership for the host institution.
Delivering the Guest of Honour address read on his behalf by Professor Cornelius Ncube, the NUST Executive Dean for the Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences (BES), NUST Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mqhele E. Dlodlo described the milestone as both historic and symbolic.
“It is both a profound honour and a great privilege to stand before you today as Guest of Honour at this historic Golden Jubilee celebration. There could hardly be a more fitting setting for this occasion than Victoria Falls, one of the world’s most remarkable natural wonders. As we gather beside these mighty waters, we are reminded that true transformation often begins quietly, with countless individual streams converging into a force powerful enough to shape landscapes and redefine futures.”
Prof Dlodlo paid tribute to SASE’s five-decade journey, noting: “For fifty years, the Southern African Society for Education has been one of those streams of transformation. What began as a visionary initiative to cultivate a scholarly community has evolved into a respected institution that has shaped thinking, informed policy, inspired research, and strengthened educational practice across our region.”
He added: “Today, therefore, we celebrate more than fifty years of existence. We celebrate fifty years of resilience, intellectual courage, commitment to educational transformation and fifty years of service to the people of Southern Africa.”
In a candid reflection on the state of education in the region, the Vice-Chancellor stressed that anniversaries must be moments of reckoning as well as celebration.
“But anniversaries are not merely moments for reflection. They are also moments for reckoning. For despite the remarkable progress of the last five decades, profound inequalities persist.”
He highlighted persistent barriers facing learners in rural and marginalised communities, including inadequate infrastructure, teacher shortages, poverty, and gender-based interruptions to schooling. On the digital transformation, he warned: “If left unaddressed, this digital divide risks becoming a development divide.”
Prof Dlodlo also challenged the sector to embrace cultural relevance: “Education cannot truly empower learners if it fails to recognise their languages, cultures, histories and lived experiences. A curriculum that disconnects learners from their identities cannot fully prepare them to contribute meaningfully.”
Linking the theme to action, he reminded delegates that “education is not simply about the transmission of knowledge. Education is about building societies, nurturing innovators and problem-solvers, cultivating responsible citizens, promoting peace, sustainability, and social cohesion as well as creating pathways to human dignity and economic prosperity.”
In his round up, Prof Dlodlo noted: “If we do so, future generations will remember the next fifty years not merely as another chapter in the history of education in Southern Africa, but as the period in which our region decisively transformed education into a force for justice, innovation, prosperity, and hope.”
He closed with a call to action for the next fifty years: “Imagine a Southern Africa where every child, regardless of circumstance, has access to quality education. A Southern Africa where curricula are relevant, responsive, inclusive and future-oriented. A Southern Africa where teachers are respected, empowered and continuously supported... I therefore call upon all of us, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, development partners, and communities, to renew our commitment to the transformative power of education.”
The three day conference concludes on Friday, after which delegates will convene for their Annual General Meeting.