The Challenges faced by businesses in education. A case study of Mobile Science Labs International

Author

Sithole, Farai

Title

The Challenges faced by businesses in education. A case study of Mobile Science Labs International

Abstract

This research is a case study of Physics Mobile Labs International, in which a telephone interview and a questionnaire was used to gather information and thematic analysis was used to investigate what challenges were faced by Zimbabwean educational business enterprises in starting, growing, and sustaining their development.The mobile science labs concept is an international innovation but on the international scene it is funded by private organizations and governments grants. The Zimbabwean implementation is beset with lack of financial support from both private firms and the government. In spite of these financial setbacks, Mr Chauke came up with a pushcart which can be loaded with science equipment and can be folded into the corner of an ordinary classroom. NUST followed Chauke and mounted a gas supply to the mobile platform and went on further to get government support in the marketing of their mobile science lab. In spite of the effort by NUST to mass produce the product, the main challenges faced by any new business still crop up and without addressing those challenges mobile science labs as a business enterprise in Zimbabwe has no future at all. The main challenges stem from social, political and economic environment in which businesses are born, grow and are sustained. The economic challenge comes from lack of training in business management. The political challenge comes from entrepreneurs who undermine the role of the government in supporting businesses. The social challenge comes from failure of the entrepreneur to adapt to the fast-changing social landscape. Recommendations made were as follows: Businesses do not exist in vacuum but are created and sustained in a financial, political and economic environment. The entrepreneur must seek to line up his or her business with the national development strategy in order to be politically relevant, that way he or she will find government support. The entrepreneur must research widely on the product which is intended to be sold and do market research in equal measure, that way he or she will be economically relevant. Social relevance demands knowledge of 21st century communication tools such as using social media for advertising products and services.

Date

January 2025

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Education businesses

Business challenges

Science education

Mobile Science Labs International

Supervisor

Dr Rusike