Executive Director of SASSCAL, Dr Jane Olwoch (5th from left); Dr Joyce Maphanyane, Task 303 Coordinator in Botswana (9th from left), and Mr Frikkie Louw, Programme Coordinator (8th from left), posing with other delegtes and SASSCAL, government, and self-funded students of the Master’s programme.

Task 303 aimed to develop a regional postgraduate programme in Earth Observation, Geo-information Science and Remote Sensing led by NUST, in partnership with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), the University of Botswana (UB) and the University of Zambia (UNZA).

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UB, Professor David Sebudubudu, officially launched the programme. He reiterated the importance and uniqueness of the programme and urged the partner universities to collaborate through co-teaching and research supervision. During the launch, the Executive Director of the SASSCAL Regional Secretariat, Dr Jane Olwoch awarded scholarships to nine students. This is in addition to the 26 that were already awarded scholarships towards completion of the Master’s degree, and a PhD for one of the students at CPUT. The Programme Coordinator, Frikkie Louw, expressed appreciation to SASSCAL for the support offered in developing the programme and the continued commitment towards the success of this initiative.