There is growing concern amongst stakeholders of the tendency for Department of Vocational Education and Training (DVET) to assume responsibility for appointment of lecturers at vocational and training institutions instead of the institutions themselves because the Ministry of Education does not have required capacity and industry experience to execute such.
Some are also deeply puzzled as to why the University of Botswana(UB) does not register and accredit its courses and lecturers as required by the regulations promulgated by the BQA.
“The brigades and technical colleges are registered and accredited by BQA. Even the lecturers have to be accredited as assessors, moderators and evaluators. It is only UB that is not accredited for both lecturers and qualifications. I do not know why this is the case,” revealed Tirelo Morake, lecturer in Information Communication Technology(ICT) at the Kang Brigades.
A significant number of lecturers at both brigades and vocational training institutions do not qualify as assessors under the new Act. There are a number whose main qualification is the National craft Certificate(NCC) and have limited industry experience in their area of expertise.
Officials downplayed criticism as alarmist saying that transition is hampered by limited pool of experts to support accreditation and validation processes. BQA therefore has to get experts from SADC Regulators, engage professional bodies and further professional development of BQA staff to facilitate the new system (capacity building)whilst supervising the registration and accreditation of TVET ETPs
“Out of 63 possible TVET conventional ETPs, 42 applications received for existing and 18 new entrants. From the 42, 33 are private ETPs and 9 public ETPS received,” said Vincent Phenyo Molefe, Accreditation Manager at Botswana Qualifications Authority
He said, “So far 20 conventional ETPs have been registered and accredited.”
The new qualifications framework talks of the introduction of moderators and assessors with individuals expected to pay for their registration and accreditation. It is reportedly likely to be a challenge because the amount required is considered prohibitive.
“We have the wrong people in the wrong jobs,” said expert attending the BQA consultative workshop.
Some of the courses at the various technical colleges and brigades in Botswana are not internationally recognized. The Botswana Qualifications Authority(BQA) is well within its rights to stop some courses from being taught and teachers from teaching although they are unlikely to do so because of the political furor it would cause. Lecturers at institutions often do not have any industrial experience.
This means that the biggest victims are the students themselves because they do not have teachers with appropriate experience and knowledge. DVET does not have suitably qualified staff to remedy situation and the practice of asking them, to appoint lecturers reveals fault lines in system.
BQA officials maintain transiting means tools and instruments are regularly reviewed acknowledging change is not easy, encouraging Educational Training Providers(ETP) to submit applications for renewal because regulations say they must do so 6 months before expiry.
A lot of ETP’s are compelled to submit applications before expiry of deadline which is December 2018. The BQA has also been slow to respond because of number of applications under consideration.
‘There is also a need to engage international experts to ensure international competitiveness, relevance of qualifications and portability of these awards,” said Selebo Auma Jobe, Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Botswana Qualifications Authority(BQA).
She said, “BQA has also started consultations on recognition of prior learning in some areas, to roll out to other areas. I anticipate the consultations to be finished to allow for signing and launch of the RPL/Credit Accumulation and Transfer Policy in September 2018.”
