The decline and fall of higher education in Botswana: The curse of commercialisation (Part I)
Friday, January 13, 2017
Students at a local tertiary institution
The year 2016 ended on a high note with respect to the overdue debate regarding higher education in Botswana. University of Botswana’s Professor Thabo Fako’s presentation before the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies and Public Enterprises in November provided much needed impetus to the debate.
It is not so much the fact that the University of Botswana (UB) is cash-strapped that is critical to the debate, but the relevance of the institution in the modern economy as well as the implications of the fierce competition it is receiving from private tertiary institutions. The debate was useful to the extent that it brought into sharp relief the vacuousness and bankruptcy of our higher education system.
According to a report elsewhere in this publication, various district councils announced that a one-bedroom home now costs over P130,000 more, a near-unthinkable 32% increase. This isn't just a minor adjustment, but a devastating blow to the dream of affordable home ownership for ordinary citizens.What is most alarming is not just the scale of the increase, but the profound confusion it has exposed. Minister Ramogapi has publicly...