14 Nov 2021

The planned signing of an agreement to revive relations  between Oodi College of Applied Arts and Technology and France’s Haute College of Jewellery is a welcome development, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Such partnership should be life-long since both institutions brought with them valuable attributes, he said during a tour of Haute College recently.

President Masisi said on the side of the Oodi college, it was located in a country boasting production of the world’s best gemstones while Haute College was one of the best jewellery manufacturing and design schools.

The prospective partnership must mutually benefit both schools, he said adding that the relationship should extend to the institution’s students.

Dr Masisi noted that Botswana also had relations with some French global brands which acquired Botswana diamonds for jwellery-making.

Botswana too had the best jewellery designers and unique culture, which, if given a chance, would make it to international markets through jellewery design, said Dr Masisi.

For his part, Haute College consultant, Mr Corentin Ouideau expressed appreciation for efforts made towards reviving relations his institution used to have with Oodi College of Applied Arts and Technology.

He emphasised the need to come up with guidelines and frameworks that would be beneficial to both parties.

Founded in 1867, Haute College trains nearly 650 students annually while Oodi College of Applied Arts and Technology opened its doors in 2012 with a mandate to drive economic diversification and promote entrepreneurship leading to poverty alleviation.

Meanwhile, President Masisi has told Batswana residing in France that Botswana needed to diversify its economy to achieve a knowledge based economy hence his visit.

Speaking during a meet and greet session with them, the President said the visit was in search of investors that could partner with local companies to grow the country’s economy, he said.

On other issues, President Masisi informed the meeting about Botswana being removed from the corruption and money laundering grey list as well as plans to review the country’s constitution.

For their part, Batswana students in France appealed to government to ensure that certificates acquired from Botswana universities were internationally recognised.

They said it was a struggle to find reputable jobs with any of Botswana’s institutions of higher learning certificates.

All they could get were menial jobs, they said.

They also requested that they be given an opportunity to partake in Smartbots projects while still in France.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe said his ministry was working with Botswana Qualification Authority to rectify certificate-related anomalies.

He acknowledged the challenge experienced by Batswana and promised to turn things around in a short time. Ends