09 Jul 2017

Several MPs have called on government to capacitate the new university that the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCODOL) will be transformed into to enable it to live up to its mandate.

Contributing to the debate after the presentation by Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology Dr Alfred Madigele on the Botswana Open University bill, that seeks to turn BOCODOL into a university, in Parliament on Thursday, the MPs said failure to adequately resource the envisaged university would contribute to its failure to serve the purpose for which it was established.

Gaborone Central MP, Dr Phenyo Butale noted that while the move to transform BOCODOL into a university was welcome, it was sad that the new university was adding onto the numbers of other universities that were already poorly resourced.

He said that at the time when it was clear that the University of Botswana was ailing, instead of helping it, government moved ahead and set up the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST); and before the latter could be up and running, the Botswana College of Agriculture got transformed into  Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Dr Butale said now the focus had already turned to the Botswana Open University (BOU).

Wondering if the recent moves by government were sustainable, the legislator pleaded for the adequate resourcing of the new university.

MP for Maun East, Mr Kostantinos Markus also urged government to adequately resource BOU.

He said failure to do so would hamper the university’s efforts to deliver on its mandate.

Mr Markus further implored government to build structures for BOCODOL centres to move them from rented facilities, as well as to ensure timely and proper maintenance of facilities in cases where the centres were housed in their own structures.

Speaking in support of the proposed transformation, MP Bagalatia Arone of Okavango hailed the role BOCODOL had over the years played, especially in Botswana’s rural communities, where he said there was a shortage of tertiary institutions.

Mr Arone however decried the resource-limitations that BOCODOL centres had to grapple with over the years.

He appealed to government to ensure that BOU did not operate under the same limitations.

MP for Mahalapye West, Mr Joseph Molefe, who also supported the bill said BOCODOL had contributed to the growth of Botswana’s education sector, hence the need for it to be properly supported.

He said centres should be connected to the Internet as internet connectivity was central to success in today’s world.

MP Molefe urged government to also ensure that the programmes the new university would offer were aligned to the needs of the labour market.

He also said it was necessary to ensure there was no duplication of efforts with regard to what other institutions of higher learning were offering.

Tlokweng MP, Mr Masego Segokgo underscored the need for a paradigm shift in the manner in which Batswana perceive distance and open learning.

He said it was important to make locals more receptive of this mode of learning.

MP Segokgo also said that it was crucial that marketing of the university be intensified to make it more visible the world over so that it could be able to attract learners.

Nata-Gweta MP, Mr Polson Majaga, who also spoke in support of the bill, said Botswana had made great strides in the sphere of education since independence.

He said the rate at which the country had progressed in the area of education, a lot more would have been achieved by the end of Vision 2036.

He said learning was a life-long process; MP Majaga commended government for the envisaged transformation of BOCODOL into a university, labelling the move another effort towards the development of education in the country.

MP Samuel Rantuana of Ramotswa, who did not support the bill, said BOCODOL’s transformation into a university would result in job losses as some members of staff would be said to be lacking the requisite qualifications to work in a university setup.

Mr Rantuana said the move was also likely to result in a drop in the quality of BOCODOL’s work.

He said the move in the past by government to take over brigades had negatively impacted on the work of the brigades, noting that the same situation was likely to repeat itself with regard to BOCODOL.

Also against the proposed move was MP Sedirwa Kgoroba of Mogoditshane.

Mr Kgoroba said government was already failing to adequately support the existing three universities, adding that stretching the already thin budget to accommodate a fourth university was not a well thought-out decision. ENDS