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The University of Botswana (UB) recently hosted the Director General for Careers and Further Education at the Seychelles Ministry of Education, Ms Françoise Mein, for a meeting that reaffirmed and strengthened the long-standing academic partnership between the two institutions.

Speaking at the meeting, Ms Mein noted that Seychelles had been sending students to UB since 2014, and to date, about 57 Seychellois teachers have been trained at the institution with impressive results. She added that many of these graduates had since returned home to assume leadership roles in schools and within the Ministry of Education.

“I want to also mention that all our graduates from UB, are doing very well in schools. Most of them are in either middle management or top management. We have some who came as primary school teachers and because of the level of content especially in mathematics, they are teaching in secondary schools”. Reitarated Mein.

Ms Mein expressed satisfaction with the academic programmes offered by UB and the overall experience of Seychelles students. She noted that the decision to continue sending students was driven by the University’s strong curriculum and the success of its alumni. Furthermore, Ms Mein highlighted the achievement of Ms Tania Bellard, who was the valedictorian at the 2019 UB graduation.

“Tania is now in the Ministry of Education in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) division, doing very well. So yes, our graduates from UB are doing really, really well”, adding “This is why we are back, actually.”

For his part, UB Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris, reaffirmed the University’s commitment to delivering high-quality education and highlighted its rising international rankings particularly in disciplines such as education, health sciences and physical sciences.

“Let me give you some comfort to say the standards at UB are improving. We subject ourselves to international rankings like the Times Higher Education,” adding “So for us to be ranked and even fall within that higher bracket speaks volumes about the quality of education that we offer here at the University of Botswana,” said Professor Norris.

Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Marea Nnyepi, acknowledged the positive feedback from past students but also highlighted challenges including a case whereby a student struggled with psychological adjustment. She emphasised that UB had strengthened its support systems to ensure that new students had access to career guidance and counseling services to help them settle in smoothly.

Meanwhile, Ms Mein was accompanied by four students who have successfully enrolled in various disciplines within the Faculty of Education. Furthermore, discussions are underway to extend admissions to other faculties and postgraduate programmes.