17 Jan 2016

 A delegation from the Ministry of Education in Seychelles has visited the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST).

The delegation’s visit is a follow up to the visit which the Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Unity Dow undertook to Seychelles last September.

The Seychelles visit culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Botswana and Seychelles.

The MoU spells out collaboration activities that the two countries could engage in to facilitate continued professional development of teachers in both countries.

Welcoming the delegation, BIUST acting vice chancellor, Prof. John Cooke noted that BIUST specialises in science and technology. He said it has two colleges; College of Science and College of Engineering Technology.

He said BIUST’s mission is to produce world class research and innovation in science, engineering and technology, contributing to industry growth and the development of a diversified knowledge based economy.

Prof. Cooke said BIUST has an enrollment of 1 900 students, 206 of which are post graduates whilst 56 are international students.

He said by 2022 BIUST wants to have 6 000 students, 1 500 of which would be post graduates while 4 500 would be undergraduates. 

To achieve this, he said BIUST was expanding its facilities, having completed the first phase of the seven buildings that are yet to be built, which include, among others, teaching and computer laboratories.

For his part, deputy vice chancellor - Academic Affairs, Prof. Dennis Siginer said Botswana was faced with a dire shortage of technicians in all sectors.

He said after the decision to take over the Roads Training Centre (RTC), BIUST would be able to provide the country with technicians from various sectors.

He said RTC, which has been transformed to BIUST Technical Training Centre (BTTC), would be upgraded to meet BIUST standards as well as upgrade the facilities and recruit more staff.

He said the takeover would take place on April 1. The head of delegation from Seychelles, Mr Jean Alcindor said Seychelles has a fairly new university offering ICT, Law and Business Management.

The MoU also seeks to see whether the two countries could establish training partnerships to enhance the quality of education.

He said BIUST was a good project that his country could benchmark with, particularly that the two countries share almost similar challenges.

He said his country was also faced with shortage of technicians. Ends