06 Mar 2018

The 2017/2018 budgetary allocation compelled the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology to retain the cut-off point for sponsorship at 36 points, Parliament has been told.

Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Dr Alfred Madigele said the P2.4 million allocated to the ministry in 2017/2018 financial year was meant to cater for tertiary education sponsorship, covering both continuing and new students.

He noted that the practical reality that the ministry contended with was that it had to operate within the current financial constraints that prevail within the country.

Answering a question from MP for Gaborone Central, Dr Phenyo Butale, the minister explained that a lot of students, who were eligible for tertiary education, but having scored less than 36 points, were not sponsored.

The minister said that raised a critical point; whether to increase allowances for those already benefiting from government sponsorship, or to use the available funds to increase access to tertiary education but the ministry was more inclined to the latter.

“Sponsored students are given different allowances that cater for both direct and indirect costs associated with their studies,” he said.

He explained that the different allowances included book allowance ‘whose amount is discipline specific’ and ranged between P 2 500 to P12 800 per student per academic year, stationary allowance amounting to P300 per academic year; attachment allowance amounting to P1 420 per month plus P20 per day for transport and P35.28 per day for meals.

On-campus allowance amounted to P1 208.40 per month while off- campus allowance stood at P1 420 per month, he added.

Minister Madigele further told Parliament that ‘there is special equipment allowance whose amount depends on the value of the equipment while protective clothing amount is P600 per year except for nurses trainees who get P1 200 per month for the first year and P600 for the subsequent years.’

He explained that his ministry had adjusted book allowance for medical and engineering programmes upwards adding that it was not possible to adjust all allowances upwards as a result of budgetary constraints.

The ministry, he said, had not undertaken any specific study as such, but it had established a Monitoring and Evaluation Unit whose role, amongst others, was to monitor trends in the costs associated with both financing and accessing tertiary education.

He said the observation was that both direct and indirect costs kept going up but unfortunately the ministry did not have sufficient resources to keep pace with the escalating costs.

MP Butale had asked the minister to brief Parliament on any efforts being made to review government sponsored tertiary students’ allowances with the view to adjust them up.

The legislator had also wanted the minister to state whether he had instituted any studies to determine the adequacy of the current allowances following the reduction which was necessitated by the global economic meltdown. ENDS