27 Jun 2019

The public service should offer solutions that reduce spending while fast tracking service delivery.

Such would enable government to achieve its agenda to transform society in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as Vision 2036,

Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Mr Thapelo Olopeng, said this when giving a keynote address at the ministry excellence awards in Gaborone on June 26.

Mr Olopeng noted that the aspirations of the fourth and ninth goals of the SDGs, that of attaining equal access to quality education dovetail with the Vision 2036 pillar of sustainable economic development and required innovation from the civil service.

“In our case, our departments and parastatals should synchronise their services to develop a one stop service centre for our clients.  For instance, we cannot afford to have students travelling between institutions and Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF) offices for sponsorship letters when we can develop technology that centralises this service,” he said.

The minister added that for his ministry to succeed in developing innovative ideas, they needed to utilise the expertise in parastatals such as the Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) and the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH).

“BIH works with companies which are hungry to develop solutions but have no testing grounds to perfect them.  There is an opportunity for this ministry to become a guinea pig to test and perfect these innovations before they are consumed by the rest of the public service and members of the public,” he told his audience.

Furthermore, the minister said the implementation of the policy on tertiary education, research, science and technology should be geared towards ensuring that graduates can export their knowledge and skills into the global market.

Mr Olopeng also encouraged parastatals and departments under the ambit of his ministry to uphold the highest standards of service.

Adding his worth, the Assistant Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Mr Moiseraele Goya said the goals of wealth generation, promoting entrepreneurship and expanding businesses, growing the export sector as well as poverty eradication, as driven by the Ministry of Trade and Investment, need support from good tertiary education sector.

Mr Goya congratulated those who earned awards on the night, stressing that desired results tend to be produced by a motivated workforce, and urged employees to work towards delivering the knowledge-based economy espoused by the national vision.

Best performing employees from the different salary scales in the ministry, as well as workplace teams deemed to have produced outstanding work were handed awards.

The Minister’s Award went to the Director of the Department of Radiation Mr Thapelo Otukile, who was rewarded for his hard work, representing the ministry well both domestically and externally, as well as for being a good leader and team player. ENDS