Chinese Ambassador awards BU top students
Phatsimo Kapeng | Tuesday December 13, 2022 06:00
The eight students who received the awards are Oaitse Gaonewe (MSc in Computer Systems Management), Onkemetse Strydom (BEd Honours in Primary Education), Lesego Mafala (BSc Honours in Computing), Faith Bagwasi (BSc Honours in Computing, Topup year SOE), Koziba Selabe (BSc Honours in Network Security and Computer Forensics), Ngwako Taboka (MBA), Shanthy Alex (PgDip in Higher Education) and Tyrone Ford (MEd).
Speaking during the award ceremony Wang expressed great pleasure for the top eight winners indicating that their excellent performances fully demonstrate the spirit of BU, as Dr Sheela Raja Ram pointed out in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment in September. Wang said the 25-year extraordinary journey makes BU a talents incubator not only for Botswana but also for the entire Southern African region. “As an international university with campuses in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini, Botho helps train so many much-needed professionals for African countries, providing strong internal impetus for sustainable economic growth on the continent.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my best wishes to all teachers and students at Botho for your greater achievements in the future,” Wang said. Wang also shared that this year is an epoch-making milestone for China.
He said last month, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held in Beijing.
The congress took place at a critical time as "the entire party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups embark on a new journey to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects and advance toward the Second Centenary Goal. To realise this goal, the CPC will advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernisation”. Since the 1980s, China has provided Chinese Government Scholarships to Batswana. So far, more than 600 Batswana have completed their studies in China and came back to Botswana to pursue their dreams. “Amongst them, some are from Botho University. In addition, there have been various skills training, international student programmes, and people-to-people exchanges for Botswana people of different ages to benefit from.
Apart from the scholarships, three China-aid primary schools in Serowe, Maun, and Mmopane respectively have been successfully built, and the fourth one in Kazungula is under construction,” Wang said.
The ambassador further invited Botho University to set up the first ‘Luban Workshop’ in Botswana.
The vocational workshop named after Luban, an ancient Chinese woodcraft master, is a platform for sharing China’s quality vocational education resources, a programme for training high-calibre technical personnel, and an employment “through train” scheme for qualified young people to work in Chinese companies in Botswana. “Chinese Embassy will provide support in helping young people from Botho, other schools, and organisations benefit more from this workshop to get more job opportunities,” Wang said.