New Era committed to offering skills necessary needed in market
Amanda Dichabe | Friday April 17, 2015 16:23
Speaking at the inaugural graduation of New Era College in Gaborone yesterday, he said one factor was that supply of skills is not driven by demand from industry but on what institutions offer.
“Industry must come to the fore and present its requirements as well as implement the research, while Academia must research the necessary innovations and the Government as part of this trilogy, must facilitate the research with funding, policy formulation, regulation and monitoring,” he said.
Mosianyane also said that together with other relevant stakeholders, BOCCIM would provide a compass on the local industry’s needs.
“At BOCCIM we promote economic reforms to put Botswana on a higher economic growth path in order to generate wealth, prosperity and jobs,” he said.
Mosianyane urged the graduates to look for the private for jobs and business opportunities.
“For the economy to surge ahead, we need skills therefore education and skills development is a major area of focus today,” he said.
He citied that the country was in need of skills ranging from artisan, engineers, insurance experts and chartered accountants.
“As an institution of high learning, New Era College must take on the challenge of developing quality human resources to transform Botswana into a knowledge economy similar to Singapore or Unites State of America,” he said.
Mosianyane, however, said that this required New Era to strive to become a competitive institution for higher learning. He further said that he regards New Era College of Arts, Science and Technology as an institution destined for excellence in grooming and developing young professionals.
“The College has distinguished itself as a pre-eminent institution for technological studies as it is one of the few tertiary education institutions that have chosen some of the most demanding and expensive programmes of study such as Engineering and Business,” he said.
When addressing the graduates, Mosianyane urged them to be resilient and be steadfast in achieving their dreams.
“If you think big and act in conviction, you will be rewarded and you should hold on to your goals even if you stumble here and there. Life is a continuous learning process. It does not end with certification, please take success with failure positively,” he said.
The graduation, which was held under the theme, ‘Developing Human Resource for Transformation of Botswana’, had over 400 hundred graduates from four different programs ranging from certificates to advanced diploma.
These programs included Accommodation and Operation Services, Construction Industry, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Telecommunications systems. The college, which commenced operations in 2009 with 200 students, will start offering degree programmes approved by the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) from July 2015.
Among the speakers was the director of academic affairs, Clement Didimalang, who said it was time for government to consider sponsoring certificates programmes as well.
“The vocational levels are the ones which are hands on and scarcity, but very much important as they include skills in the business and construction industry,” he noted.