Dr Dingalo Addresses District and Town Councils around the Country

Honourable Councillors around the country have been urged to partake in assisting Botswana to achieve its long term ambitions by coming up with creative and innovative interventions that will assist in the implementation of the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS). The Chief Executive Officer of the Human Resource Development Council, (HRDC) Dr Raphael Dingalo made a plea while addressing  Honourable Councillors  around the Country.

Dr Dingalo maintained that they were on a mission to engage stakeholders so as to create awareness and educate members on the mandate of HRDC.  Furthermore, he told the Council seatings that HRDC was aware of and appreciated the role played by Hon Councillors in the communities they serve and hence the need to dialogue and engage in national conversations with them to assist HRDC to improve service delivery.

He  informed Honourable Councillors  that HRDC is charged with advising, planning and coordination of the development of Botswana’s human capital development. He categorically shared the sectoral approach and revealed that the National Human Resource Development Planning (NHRDP) has given Botswana’s economy the long overdue review as now the skills plans are formulated through linkages with employers.

“During the formulation of the NHRD Sector plans, we consult the employers and experts to assist us to develop priority skills requirements that Botswana needs to grow her economy”, noted Dr Dingalo.

Currently HRDC has identified 12  Sectors of the economy which will play a significant  role in the development of the National Human Resource Development Plan. Dr Dingalo further illuminated on the role of the Work - Place Learning and funding which are critical functions of HRDC.

As per the Act, HRDC is entrusted with managing and administering three Funds namely; the Public Tertiary Education Institutions Fund (PTEIF); the  Tertiary Students Support Fund (TSSF) and the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) popularly known as the Training Levy Fund. The latter, HRDF is in existence and is used for reimbursing employers who train their employees in support of Work - Place Learning.

Dr Dingalo revealed that in a quest to find sustainable ways of funding the tertiary education in Botswana, the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoTE) and HRDC in October 2016, hosted the First Tertiary Education Pitso which sought to solicit ways of funding  Tertiary Education in Botswana. In their comments, Honourable members wanted to know the eligibility of the HRDF claims and cost sharing model in tertiary education provision.

Hon Councillors applauded Dr Dingalo and HRDC for seeing the need to engage with them on these critical issues of national interest.  In response, Dr Dingalo pointed out that Work-Places or Companies that make a turnover of less than P1 Million do not

pay into the training levy and that only those which make a turnover of P1 million and above are levied, and upon training their employees they are reimbursed.

He revealed that of the accumulated Funds, Two and a half (2.5) percent is reserved for Special Groups, One (1) percent for emergent industries, Five (5) percent for Small Micro Medium Enterprises (SMME’s) and 20 percent for the Government of Botswana.

He advised the above segmented groups who would have trained to make submissions when HRDC sends out requests, whereas they will be assessed and will be reimbursed accordingly if they meet the set criteria.  Prior to addressing the Gaborone City Council, Dr Dingalo briefed Central, Chobe, Francistown and Kweneng District Councils respectively since becoming the CEO of HRDC on the 1st of June 2016.

 

News Date: 
Tuesday, September 12, 2017