14 Mar 2022

Support from community leaders will go a long way in contributing to the growth and success of Botswana Open University (BOU).

Speaking during her visit to the Maun Regional Campus on Friday, BOU Chancellor Professor Sheila Tlou said through the support of community leaders and university partners, the institution would remain relevant and meet t educational needs of the communities.

Prof Tlou who is visiting all the five BOU regional campuses across the country to appreciate how they function, challenged community leaders to influence members of the community to take advantage of opportunities presented by the university.

She observed that BOU had not been spared by the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in the decline of tertiary students’ retention which was roughly at 77 per cent.

“Many of the affected students do not have funds to pay for their tuition as majority of BOU students are self-sponsored, so they opted to defer their studies,” she said.

Maun Region, she said had since registered a higher decrease in students’ enrolment which showed that the region was more socio-economically challenged than other regions.

Concerning Open Schooling Level, Prof Tlou said about 1 193 learners were enrolled in the previous year to upgrade and resit for their Junior Certificate (JC) and Botswana General Certificate in Secondary Education (BGCSE).

She said enrolment for the Open Schooling Level had been reduced to only 940 learners this year to curb the costs of the programme.

Nonetheless, Prof Tlou said BOU, which has been offering programmes up to masters Level, aimed to introduce PHD level programmes in the near future.

She said Botswana should be in a position to export skills to other countries which would help curb graduates unemployment.

BOU Vice-Chancellor Dr Daniel Tau said Maun Region Campus had the best facilities amongst all the five BOU campuses, adding that the intention was to emulate the structure for other BOU campuses in Gaborone, Kang, Palapye and Francistown when the budget allowed.

Dr Tau further said BOU had a strategy that would be executed in three phases until the year 2036.

BOU Maun Regional Director Ms Boipelo Kesamang said the Maun regional campus had challenges of computers and the internet.

Ms Kesamang assured that BOU had not neglected the JCE and BGCSE learners after attaining university status, noting that BOU still absorbed JC and BGCSE pupils through the back to school programme for free which was, however, on a first come first serve basis.

The Maun Region recently attained about 79 per cent in Junior Certificate and 36 per cent in BGCSE. ENDS