Africa-Press – Botswana. The Ministry of Education and Skills Development has maintained the sponsorship cut-off at 36 points.
A total of 6 369 new students stand to benefit from this year’s government sponsorship.
Speaking during the launch of the 2023/2024 tertiary financing sponsorship in Gaborone yesterday, Minister Dr Douglas Letsholathebe said 5 079 slots had been reserved for students who meet the set cut-off while 1 290 was for orphan vulnerable children (OVC) who achieved 31 points or higher.
“The ministry has mainstreamed special dispensation initiatives into sponsorship programming, where the orphaned and vulnerable, those living in remote and difficult-to-reach areas and those with special educational needs are sponsored with five points less than the standard cut-off point,” Dr Letsholathebe explained.
Due to ministerial budget constraints, Dr Letsholathebe said the number of new students to be sponsored had been slightly reduced from the 6 545 in the previous years.
He also said an increased number in the previous year was also contributed by the fact that other students were re-sponsored.
“I want to remind students to be vigilant and look out for programmes and institutions that are in good standing with BQA accreditation. It has come to our attention that some students fail to secure government sponsorship despite good results because they apply to study at some bogus institutions,” he said.
Dr Letsholathebe also encouraged students who did not meet the set cut-off points to pursue Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
He stated that TVET also provided satisfying and useful programmes that were equally important and went a long way in combating unemployment and aided in economic diversification and development.
Dr Letsholathebe emphasised the importance of students using online service platforms to apply for sponsorship, stating that the turnaround time had improved compared to the traditional method, which required them to wait for months for a response and incur travel expenses in order to apply in urban centres.
He also stated that the ministry was collaborating with other relevant stakeholders to award the sponsorship fairly.
For his part, a director at the Human Resource Development Council, Dr Femando Siamisang stated that while all programmes of study would be prioritised for sponsorship, there was need to first consider health science, technology and creative arts areas.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a valuable lesson. During the pandemic, we had to rely on specialists from other countries, as a result, we need to capitalise on those areas in order to have our own,” he said.
Dr Siamisang said the creative industry had also proved that graduates could be self-employed immediately after graduation.
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