19 Feb 2015

People must embrace and give technical and vocational training their rightful place in contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of this country.  

Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) chief executive officer, Dr Patrick Molutsi said this during a media briefing on the annual Botswana Tertiary Education Fair and conference which will run from March 23-28.

He said HRDC was championing the cause to shift the paradigm of mindset of perpetuating the colonial legacy of moulding and grooming children to desire to belong to the white collar jobs, while denigrating anything vocational and technical.

Dr Molutsi stated that with technical and vocational training, every Motswana would be transformed into a knowledgeable society. 

He said if Botswana could learn from developed nations which have promoted technical and vocational training and infused it into the university academic curriculum to produce graduates ready to offer their services to the economies of their respective nations.

The HRDC CEO stated that in as much as government is concerned about unemployment HRDC is also concerned hence its mandate to make sure that every Motswana advance their skills to make them employable. He also hailed the late Kgalemang Motsete and training from Ipelegeng projects of Patrick Van Rensburg at Swaneng Hill School in Serowe that saw brigades spreading like bushfire across the country. 

He said they had creative ideas to develop practical skills needed to create jobs, saying because of their historic innovative efforts, Botswana was able to have brigades schools around the country.

Dr Molutsi asserted that in the last three decades Botswana has seen the launch of technical and vocational training institutes, which have remained on the margins of Botswana’s economy.

He said the council was training Batswana to develop maximum potential to a skills economy. Dr Patrick Molutsi said this year’s fair and conference comes at the dawn of the new organisation that has been the transformation of the old Tertiary Education Council. ENDS