Botswana’s first Astrophysics PhD: Ntwaetsile reaches for the stars
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 | 2170 Views |
To the skies: Ntwaetsile is a STEM trailblazer
Mmegi: Kindly provide your brief background, where you are from, your primary and secondary education, how you made your choice of study at tertiary and what that choice was?
Ntwaetsile: I am Dr Kushatha Ntwaetsile, a Computer Scientist turned Astronomer. I graduated with an MSc in Computer Science from BIUST. Before then, I had obtained my undergraduate Degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Sunderland in collaboration with Botswana Accountancy College. Recently, I obtained a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Hertfordshire-UK, making me the first Motswana to obtain a PhD in Astrophysics.
It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...