20 March 2008
editorial
The time lines and deadlines keep on moving at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST).
We have lost count of how many times the dates of enrolment and commencement of construction have been postponed before they were 'brought forward' and 'rescheduled' because of some unforeseen circumstances.
All of us are alive to the complexity involved in such a mammoth project involving billions of pula. Government needed to negotiate with Masimo owners, to mobilise financing, to recruit the right staff and to put in place proper curriculum for a highly technical institution. All these take time and effort.
This notwithstanding, we believe that with the team that has been set up, proper projection and ground could have been covered than what has been achieved already. The number of postponements that have been made on the project do not inspire confidence from the public. We doubt very much whether the project will be delivered and when it is eventually completed. Will it be worth the wait?
Initially, the university was to open its doors to the first intake by 2007 but this was subsequently changed and the public was informed that the enrolment will now be in 2009.
There were grave doubts about whether this was realistic given that, with less than two years before the enrolment date, government was still negotiating with masimo owners and financiers to bankroll the project.
Once again the public has now been informed that enrolment is now set for March 2010. This is exactly two years from now and no ground breaking has occurred. Is this realistic?
We are heartened that at least some vigorous recruitment has started, especially in key areas. It is in the area of physical infrastructure that concern should be raised. BIUST officials cannot afford to be setting targets and goals that they know they cannot meet.
This sends the wrong message to the public who have had too many experiences with projects that are always completed late.
Delay of the project costs government millions of Pula because it is compelled to pay for students who are placed in tertiary institutions abroad, and some are placed in some suspect local institutions.
There is a perception that the delay of the second university could be deliberate to ensure that government continues to place students in some private institutions where officials and powerful people in government have financial interests.
On a positive note, we must however congratulate the government in its bid to try and make the university a science and technology based institution.
For a very long time the country has relied on foreign institutions and foreigners to provide scarce skills in science and technology.
This institution will go a long way in addressing this skills' gap. What is even more gratifying is that this university will be tied to the practical needs of industry and the market, and not limited to theory.
Today's Thought
There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.
- Alfred Korzybski
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