Tertiary Ministry Emphasises Online Teaching
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 8, 2021 22:08
BQA has a monitoring department, which is responsible for ensuring that tertiary institutions adhere to standards of the health protocol. It has long been agreed that tertiary institutions should start lecturing to their students online to avoid crowding in school premises, which can increase the risk of spreading the virus.
“It will be unfortunate if there are some universities that still teach as if things are normal. There are those courses that students do not really need to be in the classroom. Again, even outside the country, some universities have long started doing online courses, why can’t ours here do the same. We have communicated to all universities that one class should not have more than 20 students. BQA is responsible to look out for the best interest of the students and they should give us a report if there is any tertiary that does not want to adhere to what we have agreed on,” Minister Lestholathebe told The Monitor on Sunday.
He said his ministry is working hand-in-hand with the task team on some strategies on actions to be taken if universities were to record high numbers of viral infection.
“We are going to assess the situation even this week and come up with plans on how the situation could be dealt with. We aim to record zero cases. We cannot predict the outcome of the meeting. Mind you some of the tertiary institutions are opening this week. We will also engage Business Botswana because it is also their mandate to make sure that businesses adhere to agreements between them and the government. This is the time to work together because COVID-19 affects us all,” he said.
As of Sunday afternoon, the country had recorded 163 deaths, and there were 1,536 active cases, of which 765 new positive cases were recorded from January 30, 2021.