Students throng education fair
Sharon Mathala | Friday March 28, 2014 12:49
The main fair in Gaborone comes after the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) and other stakeholders went on countrywide mini-tours after a public outcry about the dearth of knowledge about tertiary education.
The Gaborone event ends on Sunday. The theme of the fair is ‘Gateway to Realising Your Potential and Shaping Your Future’. By 10am yesterday, the queue of aspiring tertiary students had already snaked its way as far as Newstance.
HRDC spokesperson, Faith Rapuleng-Tuelo told Mmegi that the mini-tours were a success and received a lot of praise from students who are unable to attend the main event in Gaborone due to financial constraints.
Speaking at the official opening of the Botswana Tertiary Education Conference (BTEC) recently, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Skills and Development (MoESD), Grace Muzila said there is need for careful consideration of career guidance services, especially taking into account the personal and developmental challenges that the young scholars face.
“The primary thrust and rationale of the conference is based on the notion that career guidance services contribute not only to determining the personal strength and interest of the individual student, but also to the implementation of active labour market needs of the country,” Muzila said.
She explained that it is axiomatic that career guidance provisions are often a collection of disparate sub-systems within education departments, employment and private sectors each with its own rationale.
“The establishment of a national forum for guidance policy and systems development, which includes both government and key stakeholders’ representatives is an important step that the government can take to help focus and develop policy agendas and to strengthen policy making,” she said.
Acting CEO at the HRDC, Patrick Mmolotsi said that this year, 63 exhibitors showcased at the fair with 17 international universities on show.
One of the students at the Gaborone fair, Thato Eva Ramosweu said she aspires to be an occupational health graduate. She said that she appreciates the effort from the HRDC to get all tertiary education institutions under one roof.
“We are all so grateful for the efforts by the HRDC. This is an opportunity for us to get to interact with all institutions. I want to apply for the psychology courses but I am also optimistic in venturing into occupational health,” she said.
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) wore their traditional black and white colours at the fair while Botho University’s mascot dressed in their red and white colours was also prominent at Boipuso Hall.