11 Oct 2015

Over 4 000 students graduated from the University of Botswana (UB) plus Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA) on Saturday (October 11).

Delivering a keynote address at the ceremony, Vice Chancellor of the National University of Lesotho (NUL) Dr Nqosa Mahao said UB had transformed into a tertiary education institution  that served beyond the borders of Botswana. 

Dr Mahao noted that the period graduates spent at the university had been invested to create a bright future and prepare them to make a contribution to the development of Botswana.

“You have a major responsibility on your shoulders to be part and parcel of nation building effort,” he said.

He added that the country, Africa and the world needed men and women who, through their selfless commitment must change life circumstances of their communities by contributing towards overcoming poverty, ignorance and disease.

Dr Mahao noted that to earn a university qualification was an assurance for immediate job opportunity, stating that for graduates of the current generation, things were not so certain anymore.

He further noted that the economy of this age was experiencing the worst job market since the great depression more than eighty years ago. 

He noted that governments on their own or in collaboration with national or international organisations had stepped up to help ameliorate the crisis of youth, especially graduate unemployment. 

For his part UB deputy vice chancellor for academic affairs, Professor Otlogetswe Totolo, said over the past 33 years, UB had grown in areas of student enrolment, staff compliment, and quality assurance, as well as infrastructural development.

He said these developments were a result of government and citizens’ commitment in providing the requisite financial resources. 

Professor Totolo said, over the past year, UB approved some academic programmes such as Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy in medical sciences, Diploma in early childhood care and education, among others. 

He, however, said some academic programmes had to be faced out due to variety of reasons, dictated by the prevailing tertiary education environment in Botswana and beyond. 

Furthermore he said in the past year UB held 25 international conferences, produced 635 peer revised journal articles, 32 books and 142 chapters in books.

Ms Unami Babaki was honoured as the 2015 Valedictorian, an honour given to a student who has demonstrated overall academic excellence and leadership qualities. UB graduates were awarded from Diploma to PhD level whereas BCA graduates were from Diploma to Masters level. Ends