The University of Botswana is considering moving from a single graduation ceremony for all to faculty based graduation ceremonies to make the ceremony more personal to the graduates.

The director of public affairs, Samuel Moribame said this after the weekend graduation ceremony held at the UB stadium. "This has been discussed in our graduation structures, though not yet conclusively. Many universities have adopted it. We can adopt it but it is something that would take time because of the rounds of consultations that we need to engage in and more importantly because of the legal implications of such a change, which obviously have to be exhaustively addressed first," he said.

He further said exhaustive consultation with their stakeholders would take time. "We are seized with this matter and we hope we can reach a decision one way or the other in the not too distant future. Note that I am not saying in 2008. What I want people to know is that implementing faculty based graduation ceremonies will not occur overnight," Moribame said.

He said major changes had to be carefully considered so that implementing change would not create regrettable problems.

"It might sound simple but it is not. What I am saying is that we will implement any new change when we are ready for it," he said, agreeing that graduation is a special day for graduates.

Moribame further stated that they have always been mindful of the graduates' interests despite the limitation of facilities and options available to the university.

"I don't want to give timelines which I am not sure are realistic," he said.

Graduates have complained of exposure to the scorching heat while queuing to receive their certificates. About 5, 000 students graduated.