Sinister signs in the sponsorship quota horizon

Uncertain future: Govt has imposed quotas on sponsorship at tertiary level
Uncertain future: Govt has imposed quotas on sponsorship at tertiary level

Government hails its new quota system for tertiary education sponsorship as addressing skills mismatch, prudent resource deployment and graduate unemployment. Other commentators are seeing more sinister side-effects and intentions, reports Staff Writer, BABOKI KAYAWE

The ‘truism’ that tertiary institutions are producing non-market ready graduates, has been the talk of conferences and workshops held to strategise the country’s human capital development. In the past decade, institutions tasked with aligning higher education courses and market needs have been busy at work to resolve this national headache.

Essentially, the efforts have been around ensuring that the billions of Pula government pumps into sponsorship of tertiary students goes towards qualifications and skills that are required in the economy.  The idea is to avoid ‘wasting’ scarce national resources, inflating the numbers of graduates in already surfeit sectors, to the detriment of sectors where hands are required.

Editor's Comment
Get back what was stolen, and lock the door

That a single private law firm pocketed P6.5 million for just four cases, out of a total P11.1 million paid for 25 matters, reeks of a system that was not merely disorganised but open to abuse.Bayford has taken a welcome first step by telling the Public Accounts Committee the truth. Now he must act decisively to ensure it never happens again and that any money lost to wrongdoing is recovered.The figures are staggering. Whilst ordinary Batswana...

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