Skilled human resources identified as key to economy

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer | Thursday February 25, 2010 00:00

Briefing the media at the Botswana Training Authority head offices this week, Joseph Lisindi said for a long time Botswana has been faced with a crisis of having mismatched graduates output within the industry. He explained that the quality of education has declined because of that. 'Responding to such a crisis demands a commitment from the whole nation to run with this new national contextualised framework. Anyone who will be provided with the education within this framework will be of relevance to the market,' Lisindi said.

He further explained that the National Human Resources Development Strategy (NHRDS) is aimed at emphasising the needs of a skilled human resource in the country, symbolising that key drivers of any nation's economy are it's people. 'We all know that diamonds are not forever. The key of Botswana's future is its people and not the mineral resources,' Lisindi said.

Lisindi further indicated that the NHRDS will be focusing on the life-cycle goals from Early Childhood Development to life-long learning. He revealed that the strategy will ensure that parents of children of ages 0-3 are encouraged to enroll their children in some form of ECD and that all children aged three to five be required to receive between one to three years good quality formal preparation through a national agreed curriculum and in a well established assured ECD pre-primary institution.

He revealed that in primary schools, the strategic goal would be to ensure that all children aged six years and older receive good quality primary education through a relevant curriculum taught by well trained and highly skilled teachers in well established and quality assured primary schools. 'There should be no difference from a school in a rural area and the one in an urban area. The teacher in a primary school should guarantee vibrant students vibrant to be fed into secondary schools,' Lisindi said adding that secondary education must acknowledge receiving students of note from primary school.  The comprehensive and quality secondary education system, which provides an opportunity to those who graduate to have acquired the full range of competencies and understandings to go on, either through employment, tertiary education or skills training to realise their future potentials.

'The tertiary education is feeding from the top and if secondary is good then we will realise a comprehensive and quality tertiary education system which provides opportunity to those who graduate. If the cycle is well managed then we will produce a definable person who would be able to advance to the fullest extent possible their aspirations for personal, social and economic progress and so they can contribute to the development of a globally connected prosperous nation,' Lisindi explained.

He revealed that the model of the strategy would come up with a continuous process of upgrading the citizens' education and equipping them with a comprehensive life long learning system, which provides opportunities to those who are retiring to be able to contribute to the economy of the country.

Lisindi revealed that there have set their goal to 2022, while an interim council has been established and given the mandate to roll out the structure.