It has emerged that all technical colleges in Botswana are not tertiary institutions.
They have not registered with the country?s Tertiary Education Council, which is a legal requirement to be regarded as such.
Speaking at a media briefing called by Education Minister Jacob Nkate, the Chief of Tertiary Education Council, Dr. Patrick Molutsi, said none of the technical colleges in Botswana has been admitted by his organisations to be classified as such.
He said that could also be the reason why there is a disparity in how the Ministry of Education treats students from such institutions compared with their counterparts at the University of Botswana.
The Ministry pays hefty allowances to university students while technical colleges? students do not get such generosity from government.
?Technical colleges are not tertiary institutions. They are only treated as such by default,? said Dr. Molutsi.
The Minister of Education, Jacob Nkate, said while the current arrangement is such that students are not expected to repay their costs of education, there is no reason why government could not look at correcting the disparity in view of the fact that it is a government policy to encourage students to follow careers in technical fields.
