Sinister signs in the sponsorship quota horizon
Friday, August 12, 2016
Uncertain future: Govt has imposed quotas on sponsorship at tertiary level
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.
It is a warning flare to every Motswana who logs onto social media. As a country, we have reached a point where the line between robust debate and outright destruction has become dangerously blurred. At face value, Mabeo’s response, which seeks an apology and threat of a defamation suit, might seem severe to some. But we cannot ignore the context. The comment in question did not offer a policy critique or question a political decision.It...