HRDC doesn’t allocate employment places – Gov’t
Spira Tlhankane | Monday December 8, 2025 06:00
Higher Education minister, Prince Maele, stated this week that HRDC is not responsible for allocating or placing interns at workplaces.
He told Parliament that the responsibilities of internship placement and deployment of graduates lie with the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs.
This is through the Department of Employment Services National Internship Programme.
'HRDC’s mandate in this area is limited to the hosting, management, and maintenance of the national jobseeker database through the Labour Market Observatory (LMO) Website,” Maele said.
'The LMO Website serves as a central platform where job seekers register their profiles and where employers, both public and private, can access these profiles when searching for potential candidates.”
The Minister was responding to a question from Kgatleng Central legislator, Mpho Morolong.
The Member of Parliament had asked the Minister to explain the methods used by the HRDC to allocate employment placements in internship referrals and whether there were formal policies that guide the order of placement or prioritisation.
'Employers are the, ones who directly interface with the system and make recruitment decisions based on their organisational needs, internal recruitment policies, and established evaluation criteria,” Maele responded.
'Therefore, HRDC does not match, assign, or place job seekers into employment or internship opportunities. The Council only ensures that the database is functional, accessible, and up to date,” he added.
The Minister revealed the HRDC’s mandate is stipulated in the HRDC Act No.17 of 2013, with four objectives.
These are to provide policy advice on human resource development, coordination and promotion of the implementation of the national human resource development strategy, sector human resource development planning, as well as financing of tertiary education and workplace learning.
He indicated that the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs manages the matching of graduates to available placement opportunities, engages with employers for placement slots, and issues the final deployment of interns across sectors.
Maele said the role of the Ministry of Higher Education, through HRDC, is to provide funding support for the internship programme through payment of monthly allowances to interns placed in the private sector.
Additionally, he pointed out that the Council continually confirms that placement in the private sector is duly undertaken at levy-paying organisations as required by the Fund operational instruments.
“Whether there are formal policies that guide the order of placement or prioritisation, since the administration and placement function resides with the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, the policies and guidelines that determine the order of placement, prioritisation, and eligibility are administered and enforced by that Ministry,” the Minister highlighted. He added that with respect to the LMO, the role of HRDC remains that of ensuring that the LMO website is operational, secure, and supports labour market transparency by enabling employers to search for suitable candidates, while giving jobseekers a platform to present their qualifications and competencies.
“The Ministry of Higher Education is responsible for funding the internship programme through the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) and operationalisation of the LMO, while the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs maintains the policies and standard operating procedures that govern the internship and placement programme.
“I wish to state that the two Ministries work collaboratively, with Labour and Home Affairs responsible for placement and Higher Education for administration of the LMO and funding support for interns,” he said.
Maele said workplace learning is a critical component of Botswana's broader skills development initiatives.
“It involves workplace training, internships, apprenticeships, and continuous professional development aimed at enhancing the skills of the workforce. In recognition of the role of workplace training in shaping the workforce, the HRDF was established as a funding mechanism. The HRDF is a levy-based fund that was established as an incentive to encourage employer participation in human capital development. The fund enables workplaces to train through the levy fund to enhance their skills,” Maele disclosed.