09 May 2017

The Minister of Tertiary, Research, Science and Technology, Dr Alfred Madigele has said his ministry has taken some steps to try and address the welfare and grievances of tertiary students.
Addressing tertiary institutions Student Representative Councils (SRCs )in the northern side of the country on Monday, Dr Madigele said issues such as delay in payment of living and book allowances had been addressed and the ministry was working on formalising agreements between his ministry and tertiary institutions to avoid any future delays.

He explained that  the ministry would this month sign a memorandum of agreement with institutions to assist in learner protection issues. He said the MOA would protect students when they raised grievances regarding their welfare.
He said his ministry would act on issues especially on policy to make sure there was improvement in the learning environment. During comments and questions, Maun Technical College SRC president, Mr Mmoloki Bakhauli expressed concern that his college infrastructure was dilapidated.
He said there was acute shortage of classrooms and some students used workshops as base rooms a thing which he said compromised the safety of the learners. He complained about lack of computers and a computer room.
Mr Onthusitse Pula,  Botswana Wildlife Training Institution SRC president, thanked the minister for providing a platform to share issues of concern. Mr Pula complained that the P3 500 book allowance was too little because in a science institution as theirs the cheapest book was around P2 500. He also said the lecturers at the institutions were not getting scarce skill allowance a thing that he said demoralised them.
Mr Pula noted that institutional houses are dilapidated and it affects the performance of the lecturers. Regarding living allowances he proposed that it should be increased from P150 to P500.
Ms Thato Ramosesane of the Serowe Institute of Health Sciences said Internet conectivity was a concern as it was always down.
Selibe Phikwe Technical College SRC president, Mr Theo Nkwane complained that the school hall was used for both dining and as a kitchen and as a result the moisture from food affected the ceiling. He complained of shortage of lecturers especially in construction and automotive department.

Ms Sharon Gumbo of Botho University College complained that although courses were accredited content was not good as some courses needed practical but only theory was done as laboratories were non-existent and that some lecturers were not qualified.
Tonota College of Education SRC deputy president, Mr Charles Thapisa complained that the colleges continued to enroll a lot of students for humanities yet graduates of the same were struggling to get employment.

In response, Botswana Qualifications Authority customer service manager, Mr Bakani Thothe explained that accreditation was done by experts in the field as they knew the quality of graduates needed by the industries.
He however concurred that it was possible that after accreditation some institutions may decide to change equipment and facilities but advised the students to engage the particular institutions management and even appeal to BQA.
The deputy permanent secretary in Policy development and research, Mr Oupa Masesane concurred that the former vocational training centres had serious maintenance problems and the ministry was in the process of appointing a director who would go around all facilities and come up with a scope of maintenance in the colleges.

He said indeed books were expensive as a way of rescuing the situation encouraged the colleges’ management to stock their libraries with enough reference books.
He said due to a lack of platform to raise issues that affected the students’ welfare, of recent there had been unrest in universities and colleges and said he was hopeful that engaging student representatives would help avoid such in future.
For his part the Botswana National Union of Students legal officer, Mr Dingalo Dingalo advised SRC members not to be derailed by partisan politics when addressing issues that affected them. ENDS