Minister urges UB to make own money
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday February 14, 2023 06:00
Letsholathebe told Parliament on Friday that apart from the subvention the university gets from government, it also gets revenue from fees still paid by government. The Minister shared that the fees charged by the university have increased from P372,457,619.35 in 2018/2019 to P664,219,399.00 in 2021/2022 corresponding with the increase in student enrollment from about 11,000 to 16,000, “This heavy reliance on government is not sustainable. The University must intensify its research efforts in order to generate its own revenue. It can no longer be business as usual. In her Budget Speech of February 6, 2023, the Minister of Finance Peggy Serame clearly stated that "as part of cost containment measures, government will continue to review subventions and grants to State-Owned Enterprises and Local Authorities with a view to reducing the allocations to the extent possible".
“The University has to live up to this reality. I believe that with their new strategy they can make it. This shows we have to restrategise. Like any other organisation that benefits from annual government subventions, the University of Botswana is always expected to accommodate any salaries adjustments within its approved subvention ceiling and income from other sources. However, the approved personnel budget for each year from 2018-2023 covered all salary costs excluding inflationary adjustments. The reason being that a provision for salaries adjustment would exceed both the subvention ceiling, as well as any other income the University generates from other income streams.
Letsholathebe said the University has, over the years, been writing to the Ministry requesting funding in order to effect inflationary salary adjustments. He said these requests have not been met due to the lack of funds on the part of the Ministry. The Minister said in 2020 the Ministry, in the spirit of transparency, arranged for the university unions to meet with the Ministry of Finance for them to appreciate the budgeting process and how funds are allocated across government. Unfortunately the meeting did not achieve its intended objectives as unions had different expectations. “On the 17th November 2022, I received a petition from the University of Botswana Staff Union (UBSU). I then met with the Council on the 23rd November 2022 and received a response from it with regard to the various grievances outlined in the aforesaid petition. The primary response from the UB Council was that they are unable to meet the union's demand for a salaries inflationary adjustment due to lack of funds. I then asked the Council to meet with the unions as it had become apparent that they had not met. “I also asked the Council to update the Ministry on the progress with regard to resolving the issues between staff and management. The last meeting between the parties was held on the 6th February 2023 between the Chairperson of Council and two of the staff unions, whereby no substantive agreement was reached between the parties,” he said.
Letsholathebe also told the house that the Ministry met with the University Executive on February 9, 2023 and asked them to provide their audited financial statements so that they can be assisted in rationalising the available budget with a view to address the demands of the staff if possible. Mahalapye East legislator David Tshere had asked the Minister of Education and Skills Development if he is aware of the ongoing strike at the University of Botswana and if he is aware of the grievances of the academic and support staff and to explain how he intends to resolve the problem.