BOSETU concerned about �suspect� institutions

Staff Writer | Friday March 4, 2016 13:37

The union said their considered view is that boycotts are just symptoms of a deep sited problem within the tertiary education system.

“They point to a serious and damning challenge in our tertiary education system.

When students complain of the quality of programmes offered by an institution, then it calls for serious attention by the powers that be, especially that they question accreditation of some courses,” explained BOSETU secretary general Tobokani Rari.

Rari argued that government should no doubt be the custodian of the accreditation process, hence ensuring not only quality but also the relevance of the programmes offered in tertiary institutions. “Our view as BOSETU is that there is currently a mismatch between programmes offered in tertiary institutions and consequently their products, and the current demands of the job market. There is therefore merit in our view in the issues raised by the students and their queries need to be listened to by the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD).”

The unionist said there is a crisis in the sub-sector, as the MoESD seems to have no clue as to where they would like to drive the human capital of this country. “As we speak, the colleges of education are being closed down without consultation with employees within those institutions and instead private tertiary institutions are being ushered in to occupy those colleges.