04 Aug 2021

 The University of Botswana (UB) on Tuesday held a teaching excellence award ceremony in honour of Dr Abhishek Agarwal and Professor Agreement Jotia. UB Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Norris said the awards were about celebrating two important values of success and excellence. 

He said the award ceremony was intended to raise the profile of good teaching and improve the overall quality of teaching in the institution. Prof. Norris explained that the award recipients were selected based on a framework and criteria that exemplified the state-of-the-art teaching and best practice. 

He said UB’s new strategy dubbed: Creating a Future for the Knowledge Generation 2020-2029, was an ambitious plan, embracing a strategic vision of striving to become a distinctive academic centre of excellence in Botswana and globally. 

He said through the vision, mission and values, the UB was re-affirming its commitment to provide the nation of Botswana and the international community, self-directed and independent graduates, who were confident, competent professionals and responsible citizens.

Furthermore, the Vice Chancellor indicated that the ideals articulated in the mission and vision would be achieved through, among others, fostering an intellectually stimulating learning-centred environment, in which students were encouraged and supported to demonstrate critical enquiry and independent thought.

 “As a university, it is compelling for us to reward academic excellence exhibited by staff and students, both in terms of creating opportunities for improving the quality of teaching and learning, and student supervision by recognising those who maintain high standards in those endeavours,” he said. 

Professor Norris said that UB aimed to provide an internationally competitive educational experience for all its students. 

The university recognised that some of the educational attributes that characterised competent and adaptable lifelong learners include: possession of information communication technology knowledge and skills; development of critical thinking and higher-order conceptual, reasoning, analytical and problem-solving skills; focus on the ability to master the discipline; and an intellectual dynamic where students were challenged and equipped to confront cultural and personal values and make ethical judgements. 

He further stated that their commitment to this pursuit was reflected in the values embraced by their new strategy, defining characteristics, and education priorities as spelt out in the University Learning and Teaching Policy. 

He said as they recognised and celebrated teaching excellence demonstrated by the two awardees, innovativeness needed to be described within the context of their departments or schools and discipline.

 Dr Abhishek Agarwal represented the Faculty of Engineering- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor Agreement Jotia is from the Department of Languages and Social Sciences - Education. In response, Prof. Jotia thanked the management of UB for including him in the history books of the university, adding that he achieved the award because of his “faith and trust in the Lord as well as hard work”. 

Furthermore, he thanked his colleague, Professor Richard Tabulawa, who welcomed him to the university and always encouraged him to work hard and publish more articles.

 He also thanked and appreciated Dr Keene Boikhutso, who happened to be his former high school teacher and compatriot in the Department of Languages and Social Sciences - Education, who as well always encouraged him to work hard. 

For his part, Dr Agarwal said coming to Botswana in January 2016 brought many doubts, but the reception at his department was appealing and afforded him the best possible support and mentorship throughout his teaching career. 

He explained that his philosophy towards teaching was based on industry orientated research and daily life examples. 

He thanked the Head of Department for Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Edward Dintwa for having given him the opportunity to explore and bring new versatile ways of teaching to the university. Ends