13 Feb 2018

Government provides sponsorship to all qualifying citizens irrespective of where they come from as long as they are within the set cut off point, says Assistant Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Mr Fidelis Molao.

Mr Molao said in order to achieve equitable access to tertiary education, additional steps were taken through the Affirmative Action Programme to reach out to rural communities such as Mabutsane Sub-district.

“This special dispensation caters for categories like Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs), Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Rural Area Communities. Every year a cut-off point for eligibility for sponsorship is set based on the available budget for that particular year, and for the above categories of people, they qualify with five points below the set cut-off point,” he said.

Mr Molao noted that over the past five years, 7 481 students benefitted from the Affirmative Action Programme, and that the beneficiaries were selected through a social enquiry assessment process conducted by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Furthermore, he stated that out of the 7 481 beneficiaries, 6 794 were OVCs, 608 were RAC while 79 were SEN. 

He said his ministry had budgeted for 1 500 under the Affirmative Action Programme for 2018/19 financial year.

The MP for Jwaneng/Mabutsane, Mr Shawn Ntlhaile had asked the minister what steps he was taking to improve access to tertiary education for young people especially from Mabutsane Sub-district, and how the affirmative action programme had performed in the past five years.

The MP also wanted to know how many were funded and how many students would be funded during the financial year 2018/19. Ends