07 Aug 2016

Ghanzi Senior Secondary School students have been encouraged to explore careers in science and mining.
Ghanzi region’s principal education officer for guidance and counseling, Mr Montsusi Morake motivated students at a career fair hosted by the school in Ghanzi on Saturday.
He said Botswana was faced with human resource challenges.
Therefore, he said it was for that reason that the country was undergoing a transition from mineral-based economy to a human resource based economy.
Mr Morake said the country was producing graduates not needed by the industry and this resulted in skills mismatch.
Therefore, he said there was need to change the tertiary and human resource development as well as sponsor students on career choices informed by the economy.
He said some of the sectors where skills were needed included agriculture, creative industries, mining, manufacturing, health, information technology and tourism, among others.
Meanwhile, a young farmer, Mr Shane Kebadile, shared his farming experience with students.
He said some careers such as agriculture needed passion for one to succeed.
A beneficiary of Youth Development Fund and Young Farmers Fund, Mr Kebadile said he did not get where he was as a farmer by luck, but through determination, perseverance and passion for farming.
He said it was not easy to acquire financial assistance as a young person because of the requirements often needed, but he fought through to get it as he was determined to improve his farming.
He indicated that opportunities were available in agriculture; saying one of them is to be able to create jobs to others.
Mr Kebadile  also encouraged students to find their calling, saying if it was agriculture, then they should make use of opportunities availed by government and improve the agriculture sector, saying they were the future and should help government reduce dependency on food from other countries.
Ghanzi senior school guidance and counseling senior teacher, Ms Onthusitse Sahib said the schoold had an initiative to engage school leaving students in such platforms to expose them to career opportunities.
She said they strived to give information on relevant careers to their students through career fairs.
Ms Sahib also noted that through career fairs, their students interacted with professionals who exposed them to the realities of the labour market regarding  career choices.
Therefore students were able to choose wisely as they were equipped with relevant information on their preferred career path.
She also noted that they also engaged focal persons from various government ministries to inform students on available programmes that were in place to create employment. ENDS