28 May 2018

In today’s innovation and competition driven world, vocational education plays an increasingly important role in creating products and services that transform the way people live, work and play.

That was said by head of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), Professor Goitseone Malumbela in Lerala at a prize giving and open day ceremony for Tswapong Bokone brigade recently.

Professor Malumbela said that almost all programmes were being offered in vocational institutions such as construction, business and manufacturing needs tradesmen.

Vocational education courses open doors to diverse career opportunities, he said adding that with the training and real-world exposure that the learners received in the vocational institutions, they could contribute towards sharpening the country’s competitive edge in the evolving world.

Professor Malumbela said the eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11) aimed to reduce absolute poverty through increased income and employment creation.

He said the planning process was intended to ensure that maximum benefits were derived from the limited financial resources available to government by prioritising policies, programmes and projects and diversifying the economy through skilled manpower thus the theme for the ceremony; Building progressive and innovative society through skills transfer for a better tomorrow.

In relation to this year’s theme, he said, government faced the challenge of diversifying the economy away from over-dependence on minerals, hence the government decided to establish institutions such as BIUST to deal with the challenge.

He also noted that “the country is geared towards creating a knowledge based economy.”

BIUST provides programmes in Science and Engineering and Technology in broad term, Professor Malumbela said.

These areas, he said, continued to shape how the world transitioned towards being a more knowledge based society.

“There is a lot that Batswana still need to do to fit in as knowledgeable global citizens. Science, engineering and technology are at the fore-front in breaking new frontiers,” he said.

Prof. Malumbela said BIUST had opened doors for collaboration with other institutions.

He therefore urged students at Tswapong Bokone brigade to consider possible collaborations and network in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics sphere to take Botswana forward.

Tswapong Bokone brigade principal, Mr Mokwadi Botshelo said Tswapong Bokone brigade was one of the oldest as it turns 20 years next year.

He said during the first 10 years of its operation, the brigade was counted among the top achievers the whole country academically including sports.

He said that today, the vocational college could not boast of any such performances, adding that the decline in the performance was a result of challenges that came with government takeover of the brigades.

The internal assessment results did not reflect a good performance either, he noted adding that there was a great need for motivation and encouragement to turn the results around.

He said they had decided to reward the deserving staff and trainees as a way of appreciating their contributions and encouraging the spirit of competition and hard work.

The brigade principal stated that the Ministry of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development was re-branding the training programmes for the brigades and technical colleges.

He said in a very short period of time, the name ‘brigades’ would be changed to ‘vocational training colleges.’

That, he said, would address the mind set of people that brigades were for failures, as all qualifying applicants would be enrolled for training. ENDS