14 Mar 2019

Assistant Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Mr Fidelis Molao, has advised would-be tertiary students to choose courses relevant for their career path.

Mr Molao was officially opening Botswana Human Resource Development Skills (BHRDS) clinic and Fair in Maun recently.

He said government was worried by students who failed to complete their programmes after acquiring sponsorship.

The assistant minister also stated that failure to complete studies on time had financial implications on government, parents and institutions.

Consequently, Mr Molao said the BHDRS clinic was meant to help the students make the right choices at less costs since training institutions, industry players and quality assurance gathered in one place to dialogue and guide students.

Mr Molao appreciated HRDC’s efforts in extending the career clinics to the North West Region, following Gaborone and Francistown.

He urged the institution to consider extending the clinics to other parts of the country.

He noted that the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETTSP), the National Human Resource Development Strategy (HRDS) aimed at producing graduates that were appropriate to labour market needs.

Both ETTSP and HRDS and the Human Resource Development Plan (HRDP), which was yet to be approved focused, on producing graduates with relevant skills, tacking skills mismatch, introducing soft skills and producing graduates with entrepreneurial skills.

In her welcome remarks, Batawana Regent, Kgosi Kealetile Moremi, said career guidance was key to addressing skills mismatch as well as high unemployment in the country.

She urged organisations to partner with training institutions to help students gain soft skills through attachments and internships.

Kgosi Moremi also encouraged students to make use of knowledge provided at the career clinic to choose right programmes and understand career opportunities. ENDS