08 May 2022

Boitekanelo College anniversary celebrations is one of useful barometers through which government can measure the nation’s progress towards creating a knowledge based economy. 

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said this when officiating at the 15th anniversary celebrations of Boitekanelo College Saturday.

He said the government had over the years challenged the private sector to be active players and partners in the growth and development of the education sector, and Boitekanelo College, had clearly heeded the call. 

“I am humbled to see that the proprietors and leaders of Boitekanelo College have not only taken heed of the call for entrepreneurship, but have also embedded it within a value system of compassion and altruism to the underprivileged,” he said about the college’s work and social responsibility. 

Dr Masisi said it was heartening over the last 15 years the college had afforded an opportunity to Batswana and other individuals from the SADC region to enhance their knowledge, sharpen their skills and pursue their dreams through training. 

The spinoffs of that opportunity, he said, were that its graduates added value to the socio-economic development of their communities and society with respect to improving service delivery in the health system. 

He said the achievements strengthened the shared belief that the acquisition of knowledge and skills was an important factor in the globalisation process, thus making education an indispensable foundation and cornerstone to anchor national aspirations. 

“One of the promises I made to Batswana when I ran for office in 2019, was to develop a robust knowledge-based economy. Informed by the dictates of the economy, my commitments included responding to the national needs and the country’s development trajectory by promoting at entry level, the quality and accessibility of education,” he said. 

Dr Masisi added that at a point, stundent intake by Botswana’s registered private tertiary education institutions had shown growth -from 38.5 per cent in 2013 to 42.6 percent in 2016.

However, “…in 2019, private institutions’ share of student enrolment had declined to 35.5 per cent, as read from the Tertiary Education at a Glance Report (2020),” he said.

This was still nonetheless a significant contribution of human resource with diversity by the private education sector, he said. 

President Masisi reaffirmed government commitment to transforming Botswana from a resource-based to a knowledge-driven economy as outlined in the National Vision 2036, adding that government endeavored to achieve that through the development and implementation of policies on Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology. 

He said although commendable progress had been made towards improving the education sector, there were still a number of challenges which included, among others the unemployment rate among graduates, the pervasive mismatch of skills produced by the education system vis-a-vis the needs of the economy. 

Thus, he said the quality of programmes offered by the education sector could either undermine, or shape the quality of skills’ sets required in the job market and necessary to improve the national economy. 

He encouraged the college to maintain the highest standards of training.

“Therefore, despite the commercial drive of the college, there should be no laxity and compromise in the aim of maintaining high educational standards that are internationally recognized and validated by the Botswana Qualifications Authority,” he said. Ends