Volume 65 December 2026-January 2026 : Career Corner
Be part of the solution
Author : Lillian Nkosazana Moremi
PSLE results out…we point fingers…JCE results come out…. we point fingers…. BGCSE results are out…we point fingers…. students are not being sponsored… we point fingers…. graduates roaming the streets with no jobs…fingers are pointing…. Fingers harshly pointing at the Ministry of Education and Skills Development. And often at times we forget that when you point at someone else, three other fingers are pointing right back at you.
When are we ever going to pause as a nation and take a minute to think hard about our individual contribution to the challenges within the education sector? It is not the job of the ministry of education alone to fight this battle along. As a nation we should also individually strive to become part of the solution to this worrisome problem.
The appeal to the parents is to stand up and take responsibilities for their children`s education. Parental involvement goes beyond attending PTA meetings, it includes supporting children at home to see to it that they do their homework, finding out how they are coping at school, work with them to find out how best you can assist in their learning process, and indeed celebrate their success stories and so forth. Parents should not be taking their children out of school to go work in the farms. Through support to access education, poor parents stand a better chance for their children to assist them out of poverty.
Turning back to the students, every student needs to take full responsibility for their own leaning. On so many occasions when we are given the golden opportunity to be educated we take it for granted and end up failing or dropping out of school and ultimately adding to the persisting problem of unemployment.
One of the contributing factors to the challenges experienced by the education sector is surely lack of proper career guidance that ultimately also fuels the mismatch of skills. For instance, how many IT graduates are still roaming the streets after years of gaining their qualifications that even some end up contemplating suicide? It is of a relief to learn that one of the key mandates of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) is to address this challenge of mismatch of skills. During the official launch of the Botswana Tertiary Education Roadshow, Fair and Conference 2014, the CEO of HRDC did state that most graduates lack soft skills and the right attitude. The question goes to the student to say what are you doing to ensure that you better prepare yourself for the competitive corporate or business world?
Let us all be actively part of the solution within the education sector. I commend those companies, organisations and individuals who have adopted schools and through the little that they do they try as much as possible to positively contribute towards the development of education in the country for it is in small collective efforts that we can realise big differences.
I would like to challenge each and every student to take themselves and their learning serious. Understand yourself. Who are you? What are your value systems? What is your SWOT Analysis? What growth opportunities are available for you? What are your aspirations both for yourself and your country? Who are your friends? Are they there to lift you or pull you down? There are so many questions one needs to entertain. When you fail it is not the end of the world, you dust yourself and move forward no matter how painful it might be. Your success depends on you.
Be part of the solution and get involved in the opportunity brought to you by the Human Resource Development Council: THE 3RD BOTSWANA TERTIARY EDUCATION CONFERENCE (BTEC) 2014. The theme is Career Guidance for Relevant Human Resource Development; A key Towards Diversifying Botswana's Economy on the 24th-25th of March 2014 at Fairgrounds Holdings. The objectives of the BTEC is to sensitize Career Guidance Educators on the latest development in relation to the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS), for the benefit of the students and CGEs themselves; to prevent compromise (as a results of the mismatch between the current citizen/student career choices and the needs of the economy), on Botswana`s intentions on economic diversification through the NHRDS Sectorial Committees and; to provide students with enough information about Botswana`s new growth and career choices.
Unlike the conference that is open to those invited within the educational sector, THE 5TH BOTSWANA TERTIARY EDUCATION FAIR 2014 will be free for the general public on the 26th-29th of March 2014 at Ditshupo Hall, Fairgounds Holdings. The theme is “Gateway to Realising your Potential and Shaping your Future". Tertiary Debate Championships will also take place during the fair where students are debating on HIV/AIDS and various career related issues.
The objectives of the fair include marketing the tertiary education sector by giving the public and private institutions the platform to showcase their programmes; give the senior secondary school leavers the opportunity to learn more about their career paths before they choose the programme and institution of study; give the employers of tertiary graduates and the training institutions the opportunity to dialogue on issues of curriculum relevance, quality, student attachments, sponsorship and possible collaboration; inform the public on what platforms are offered across Botswana tertiary education sector that they might wish to enroll with as well as those available outside the country; give the regulatory bodies an opportunity to communicate policy information and standards that are used to improve access, equity, quality and relevance of the country`s tertiary education system; give the general public the opportunity to be informed about the mandate of the Human Resource Development Council and its strategy.
Give partners the opportunity to learn of the needs and challenges of the tertiary education sector in Botswana and expose tertiary institutions to the international market.
You can contact us via ccbotswana@gmail.com if you need any career related enquiries. Until next time, like Ghandi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”.