14 Jan 2025

 The need to capacitate officers for them to fully understand the operations and functions of the organisation cannot be overemphasised.

It is against that backdrop that Botswana Prison Service Staff College is in the process of acquiring Botswana Qualifications Authority accreditation that will enable graduates to fully deliver the mandate of the organisation and to be internationally compliant.

Speaking in an interview to BOPA, Commissioner of Botswana Prison Service, Mr Anthony Mokento expressed satisfaction that once achieved, the move would take BPS to greater heights.

The courses offered at the college, Mr Mokento said, did not mean that qualifications were only confined to offering services within Botswana Prison Service as acquiring BQA accreditation would mean quality assurance for opportunities elsewhere in the job market should the need arise.

However, expressed the need to have a robust retention strategy for skilled labour within the Botswana Prison Service, which is in the process of transforming to Department of Correctional Services.

He said the accreditation process was part of BPS' five-year transformational journey spanning 2025-2029 in line with the five-year political term.

The accreditation will see the institution offering Diploma in Correctional Services Management that will comprise modules such as Law, Marketing, Statistics and Information Technology, among others.

The courses are expected to present an opportunity for graduates to be internationally marketable in the job market.

In addition, he said it was the top management's wish to take correctional services to greater heights, adding that such a move needed development and capacitation of staff to achieve the objective.

He noted that developing and capacitating employees to fully understand the mandate and operations of the organisation would enable officers to better serve the nation.

Commissioner Mokento shared that it was such a motive that triggered the need for accreditation of courses offered at Botswana Prison Staff College.

Furthermore, he said the institution was accredited as an education service provider by Botswana Qualifications Authority, adding that the initial Prisoners Course had been also accredited and it would be offered as Diploma in Correctional Management.

Mr Mokento said what was left now was to submit the lining of the programme for accreditation after which the institution would be in full force implementing the programme.

As for lecturers competency, he said the organisation was positioned to handle the issue within the institution, which he said had the capacity to offer tutorials using its own staff.

He, however, opined that Diploma programmes needed instructors with post-graduate qualifications and a qualification in instructional matters, pointing that they had people of that calibre.

Moreover, he said those with requisite qualifications would be resent for a training of trainers or related course. As for additional developments within the college, he said the institution was infused into a five-year strategic plan spanning 2025-2029, therefore would want to develop other programmes including those tailor-made for top management.

Commissioner Mokento said the institution also wanted to offer music courses and would be working to get its music instructors accredited so that the it could offer professional courses in music.

He noted that the accreditation of courses was a double advantage as it was not only aiming at providing training for BPS staff, but would also attract institutions from the across the region.

Mr Mokento further said such a move would paint a positive picture in the profile of Botswana and add value to the lives of citizens.

The commissioner is of the view that his organisation would need more people as new divisions would be formed in the transformation process, citing positions of directors in areas of Statistics, Corrections and Policies, among others.

He emphasised that the department would definitely have to increase numbers, which move resonates with the new government's declaration of employment creation.

Nonetheless, he said they would have to engage with relevant authorities to see how far they could go with the establishment. ENDS