27 Mar 2019

Gaborone-Bonnington South MP Mr Ndaba Gaolathe says Botswana, like other countries, should focus on outputs and not simply place emphasis on inputs.

Debating the budget proposals for the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology for the 2019/20 financial year on March 26, Mr Gaolathe said the country not only needed to have well laid-out plans of what outcomes it desired to achieve, but also had to have in place ways of measuring how far along it was on the endeavour to attain its dream.

He observed that while the country’s focus on the level of inputs it ploughed into the education system was on its own not a bad thing, it was necessary to also focus on the outcomes the system produced.

Mr Gaolathe also indicated that presently there was no value for money in the education system.

Concurring that there was indeed no return on investment pertaining to the government spending in education, Gaborone North MP Mr Haskins Nkaigwa said it was unwise for government to continue to spend money sponsoring students to institutions whose reputation was questionable.

Mr Nkaigwa said such institutions needed to be facilitated so that their graduates would be able to effectively compete for jobs with those from other institutions of higher learning.

On another issue, the MP called for the removal of the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) from the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security to that of Tertiary

Education, Research, Science and Technology where the rest of tertiary institutions were. Raising a different point, Mr Nkaigwa implored the ministry to reduce cut-off points for admission into tertiary education institutions so as to allow as many Batswana as possible to acquire tertiary education.

He said although job creation was still a challenge, it was better to have the country’s young people unemployed, but educated.

Okavango lawmaker Mr Bagalatia Arone advocated for the popularising of the Botswana Open University. Mr Arone said despite the role that the institution could play in helping develop the country, it remained unpopular with many locals.

Further, the MP said the Faculty of Education should be moved from the University of Botswana to colleges of education.

Contributing to the debate, MP for Tati West Mr Biggie Butale decried lack of innovation by local universities.

He said African universities’ general lack of impact on the lives of ordinary people often resulted in them being perceived to be elitist and thus detached from the bulk of the populace.
Ghanzi North legislator Mr Noah Salakae called for the opening of a satellite campus of BUAN in the Ghanzi area, noting that such was necessary as the area was the country’s beef hub.

On another matter, Mr Salakae said the budget for the ministry was too low, saying universities in particular needed improved funding.

MP Moagi Molebatsi of Mochudi East similarly indicated that universities needed to be availed more funding so that they could propel the country towards its aspiration of becoming a knowledge-based society.

The legislator denounced the education system, saying it produced graduates who could only become employees and not creators of employment. Ends