State capture and commercialisation of tertiary education
Dithapelo Keorapetse | Friday June 24, 2016 17:59
There is a relatively new phenomenon, a type of political corruption at a grand scale, whereby private education companies owning fake tertiary education institutions significantly influence government's public policy decision-making processes to their own advantage, through covert channels that may not be illegal on the facade. This kind of corruption is called state capture. It is a sophisticated corruption whereby private companies shape the country's public policies and laws as well as government regulations of private business to their own selfish advantage by providing illicit incentives to senior government officials like Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Directors for instance. The media has tried in recent years to expose this elite corruption in the education system without much avail.
In recent years, private tertiary institutions have proliferated. Almost all institutions have been accredited by the state regulatory authority, even those with questionable credentials. Some of these institutions have no or inadequate facilities which ought to have been prerequisites for accreditation or licensing. Some of these schools don't have libraries, laboratories, enough classrooms, teaching materials and equipment or machinery. Their staff is not qualified for the things they're supposed to be teaching. Sometimes cheap foreign labour, which at times is fraudulent, is exploited by these institutions. Student protests, which are vehemently suppressed by the government and management, are common at these schools. Learners at these schools are in despair about programmes which aren't taking them anywhere.
The owners of these institutions are in cohorts with politicians in the ruling party and some senior government officials. They bend the rules to their own advantage. Some of these schools are for all intents and purposes fake institutions dispensing fake qualifications. They undeservingly get many learners the purpose for which is to enrich the owners. The owners of these schools have clandestinely sponsored the ruling party national political and intra-party activities, the avaricious criminals have financed certain politicians who are formulating policies that would benefit these institutions.
The criminals are getting lucrative government tenders even in areas where they've no track records or experience, companies which have been recently registered win tenders. This mob registers schools and programmes in every area you can think of, sometimes in highly technical fields. Some claim to be offering science and engendering programmes when they don't have laboratories, teaching materials and qualified staff. Why do you think the government is nevertheless sponsoring leaders at these institutions? In fact the same government wants to close down some of the University of Botswana programmes so that learners can go to bogus private institutions?
One needs to go and assess the declining number of students in certain programmes at UB, and here reference is made to very good quality programmes. It is also appalling that these institutions are very generous with admissions. Today it is possible for any BGCSE graduate to get an admission into almost any programme at these institutions. Standards have gone terribly down. The disheartening fact to note is that some ministers are indirectly involved in these business through close relatives.
A motion in 2014 to probe these institutions was withdrawn after it became apparent that it was going to be shot down. Target 20,000 is instructive of the corruption. There are local tertiary institutions which have been overlooked in the initiative, learners have been admitted in Gaborone institutions when there are competent acreditted schools available in their areas. Actually the whole thing is a big mess; it is no longer target 20,000 fulfilling its intended objectives. The scheme has turned into an unprecedented bonanza for the usual culprits. Stealing has been legalised and intensified. It could be that even at conceptualisation, the idea was to steal. There is a race to win more government sponsors learners, it has become a lucrative business, get rich quick scheme for those willing to corrupt government officials.
If this continues unabated, Botswana youth will have no future. We will have youth with diplomas and degrees which are useless and have very rich corrupt public servants and pseudo businesspeople. There's a need to probe these schools. The qualification authorities are also involved. How can almost every school and programme registered be accredited? There is a need to enact laws to enable the anti-corruption agencies to investigate and successfully prosecute perpetrators.
Botswana needs Freedom of Information law, Whistle Blowing Act and laws dealing with insider trading, targeted lifestyle audits and a fully fledged corruption policy to deal with these issues. The state capture and illegal commercialisation of education should be stopped, it is destroying the future of Botswana and its youth and it is depleting the limited resources as well as polluting the labour market.