04 Feb 2014

The Botswana Qualification Authority (BQA) aims to ensure that qualifications obtained at all institutions in Botswana are recognised and of international standards.

Speaking at the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) breakfast seminar in Gaborone on February 3, BQA project manager, Dr Andrew Molwane said institutions that produced qualifications which were below par would not be allowed to operate.

Dr Molwane said the authority would come up with a standard system to regulate qualifications from early childhood to tertiary level, including those attained at external schools. He noted  that students used to come with foreign certificates that were not credible.

He said although local institutions had quality assurance systems in place, they were not up to standard. Dr Molwane said the authority  would implement a national standardised quality assurance system for institutions to comply with. He said tertiary institutions would abide by the teaching and learning standards for education and training providers set by BQA.

Dr Molwane noted that the mandate of BQA was to ensure that learners produced locally and internationally was of reputable calibre. He also said BQA would register and validate qualifications as well as to ensure their relevance to social and economic needs of the country.

He pointed out that BQA had a symbiotic relationship with the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC). He said the quality assurance objectives from HRDC were harmonised with BQA to achieve standard qualification mandate. ENDS