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| Gaborone, Botswana |
The placement
of graduates in the National Internship Programme outside Botswana is a step in
the right direction to develop a globally competitive human resource, the
Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Edwin Batshu has said.
Speaking yesterday in Gaborone at the
opening ceremony for a week-long bootcamp for Botswana interns destined for
India, the minister said the graduates are expected to gain skills in areas
such as IT integration, software development, value chain management,
re-engineering analytics and research to risk management.
The interns will work
in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in India.
"It is our belief that these interns will be able to combine the learning
they gained and the work experience to be gained in India to make a
contribution to the economy as well as equip them to venture into businesses
and entrepreneurship among others," Batshu said.
The placing of the
interns with Indian firms comes through a partnership between the Botswana
government, Botho College and NIIT India.
Batshu said this
challenges all sectors of the economy, particularly the private sector, to come
up with strategies of partnering with the government to ensure the development
and transfer of skills to young Batswana.
He said strategic
linkages have to be strengthened between government and role players to ensure
that all stakeholders come up with innovative ways of making graduates
marketable. The managing director of Botho College, Sheela Raja Ram said the
success of their endeavour to send the graduates to India shows that
educational institutions need to extend themselves beyond just educating and
graduating students. She said her college realised the aim four years
ago, at which point they started a Development Unit, which spearheaded the
placing of the interns in India. Ram cautioned the India-bound interns
against misbehaving when they get to New Dehli, saying they must remember that
they will be ambassadors of Botswana.
She warned the
interns that the continued success of the programme rests with them, as their
behaviour and work ethic will determine whether more graduates are sent to
India. It is not the first time that NIIT India has partnered with a Southern
African nation to place interns in India, she said. Already, South Africa has
interns in Indian companies through NIIT.
Although 30 Botho
College graduates will participate in the boot camp ahead of the India trip,
only 12 will be selected to go at an unconfirmed date. The Indian High
Commissioner to Botswana, Madhava Chandra attended the boot camp's official
opening. Botswana plans to place interns in Malawi, Liberia and South Sudan.
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