A fresh report on higher education and training in Sub-Saharan Africa says there is need for Botswana to come up with relevant university curricula and effective teaching styles if the country aspires to see good returns on investments.
Currently Botswana ranks in the top 5 in Africa in terms of higher education and training.
The report entitled: State of Higher Education and Training in Sub-Saharan Africa says whilst Botswana has reasonably good higher education policies, there seems to be no improvement in the talent and skillset of the workforce.
“There is need for the education system in Botswana, especially at University level, to impart and instil competences that are pertinent to the modern economy. In particular, today’s globalising economy requires countries to nurture pools of well-educated workers who are able to perform complex tasks and adapt rapidly to their changing environment and the evolving needs of the production system,” states the report.
Amongst other things, the report states in clear cut terms that the only way for Botswana to move up the value chain beyond simple production processes is to ensure that its higher education and training is first-rate.
“In the past, talent and knowledge was not essential for lower-skilled jobs but now vocational training and higher education are necessary to prepare the workforce for the intricacies of working in a complex, digital environment,” states part of the report.
The report also says there is need for Botswana to continuously measure whether the level of human capital is increasing or decreasing and this can done through capturing the style of teaching.
“Developed and developing countries could easily lose their human capital advantage if their education systems and curricula fail to improve the quantity and quality of skills of their future workforce,” the report adds.
