The University of Botswana and other tertiary education and training institutions that participated at the 2nd Botswana Human Resource Development Skills Fair and Career Clinics in Francistown on March 7, 2018 were urged to be at the cutting edge of producing graduates with relevant skills and competencies that were aligned to the industry’s needs.
Speaking at the official opening of the three-day event, Botswana Examination Council (BEC) Executive Secretary, Professor Brian Mokopakgosi, added that most importantly such skills and competencies must be globally compliant.
Professor Mokopakgosi’s call came in the wake of widespread concerns about the quality of education and rising unemployment levels partly due to a relatively large number of unemployable graduates. Such also comes at a time when Botswana is striving to become a knowledge-based economy.
Professor Mokopakgosi lamented that findings from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading and Literacy (PIRLS) that gauge the level of competency of students in these areas had consistently shown that 50 per cent of Batswana students were failing to meet the minimum international benchmark of 400 (out of 1000).
“This level of performance correlates closely with the performance that we see in our schools examinations,” he observed. He added that while examinations provided some information on the quality of education in any jurisdiction, it must be understood that they were by themselves not a panacea for gauging the quality of education.
As such, Professor Mokopakgosi expressed the hope that tertiary education and training institutions would also develop mechanisms to assess the quality of education and training at national level. In the same breadth, BEC, on behalf of the Ministry of Basic Education, was implementing a programme called the Botswana Educational Achievement Monitor (BEAM), which, once fully operational, would provide a national picture of the quality of education, he said.
That, he noted, was more important in making sure that institutional programmes produced skilled and competent graduates that were fit to compete internationally. Professor Mokopakgosi said global competitiveness was essentially about imparting technical and professional competencies, including soft skills that could assist one to deliver efficiently.
“Young people looking for employment in an increasingly competitive jobs market must be able to provide employers with evidence of their capabilities and work readiness,” he added.
Professor Mokopakgosi further highlighted the importance of the Human Resource Development Skills Fair and Career Clinics in meeting the demands of the 21st century, where critical thinking was paramount. He said the holding of fairs was an important strategy that could help identify skills and careers critical for Botswana’s transformational agenda.
“An event of this nature should become a common phenomenon if we are to transform our education and training system to meet the demands of both national and international labour markets, as well as address the issues of employability,” he said.
In addition, he observed that with employable, creative, innovative and globally competitive graduates, Botswana stood an excellent chance of transforming her economy from a resource to a knowledge-based one.