UB STUDENTS, LET’S WALK TOGETHER!! Ladies and Gentlemen, receive my warm greetings in this communique. Also allow me to submit my acknowledgements and extend my gratitude to you, for entrusting us with such humongous responsibility of leadership. Our appreciation continues to be pronounced in the form of delivery, performance and accountability. Students shall continue to rule and as leaders we shall, as expected, lead! UDC led SRC appreciates you all! As for the 1st years,like I said before, welcome to the world of academic champions, a place where learned intelligentsia are bred and groomed, welcome to the world of political champions, a place where leadership brains are moulded and nurtured; welcome to a world of sports-arts champions, a place where talent is refined and explored. One may safely say the party is yours to spoil. That said,let me shift to issues of paramount importance. FET AND SCIENCE LECTURER CRISIS Ever since vacation period The SRC have been regular visitors of DVC—Academic Affairs’ office following the issue of unavailable classes because of the lack of lecturers at FET and Science faculties. We have been trying to get response from Prof Totolo but our efforts has never been met with any concrete response. The last time we had a discussion with the DVC-AA, he promised us that the University has been hiring lecturers and by the time classes resume, all the troubled waters would have settled. It has been 5 weeks now after classes resumed and still, to our dismay, there are no lecturers for significant number of courses. Some students are being forced to take optional courses that they do not really want to owing to the inconvenience brought about this severe shortage of lecturers. In this case the quality of education for the FET students has been compromised. Prof Fako leba kwano! As the UB student community we shall not let this befall our fellow students, and as said; an injury to one is an injury to all! The SRC will address Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Science students on Wednesday regarding this issue, and serious resolutions must be taken. We shall never rest until we get answers. BOOK STORE MONOPOLY Sometime in June 2014, the SRC have had several meetings with representatives from Ministry of Education, some from DTEF, regarding the issue of book store monopoly. Our stand was clear and unequivocal as we advocated for the open electronic student card which will see students swiping at other book stores as it was agreed during Kago Mokotedi’s tenure. After a series of promising meetings , the Ministry of Education as always wrote a letter to us informing us that the DTEF is been converted into HRDC (Human Resource Development Council) and as such they could not procure new services during the transformation period. As we speak implementation of the student book card shall commence next academic year. This is as far as the issue goes, not propaganda and petty issues published in newspapers by certain individuals suffering from post SRC elections trauma. SPONSORSHIP FOR RETAKES, REINSTATEMENT AND EXTENSION The SRC has met with Parliamentary Education Committee Chairman, Rre Bagalatia Aarone for serveral times in regard to sponsorship of retakes, reinstatement and extensions. We even met with DTEF and the issue was also raised to the man himself Minister Hon Masisi, who promised to attend the matter and give it the urgency it deserves. We were only suprised last week to hear that Minister and his subordinates are rejecting students. They have come with a new creteria, category blah blah....my foot! Their excuses does not make sense to us at all.. Progressing students were also rejected on the basis that their courses are of no use. What a shame, our question was and remain that how can you spend tax payer’s money and sponsor students for diploma courses in which you do not value as important courses? This has exposed the ignorance and incompetency of the government in power. As we speak students are roaming the streets with no sponsors, and the government seems not to care about such. Re mo mathateng! SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMS The SRC is proud to have successfully advocated for the re-introduction of the supplementary exams, which were written on July 28-3 August 2014. These exams helped a lot of students, as Sup exams reduce stockpile of retaking students, thus also accelerate graduation and progression to account to skilled manpower in our country. Moving forward the SRC has since proposed that supplementary exams being written retrospectively to reduce the backlog of retakes,this is to say students being allowed to sit for sup exams for courses not only from the past immediate semester but from previous academic years. Let me take this opportunity to inform you that one of our celebrated young leaders and firebrand, who is also the former UB-SRC President Khumoekae Richard will this week publish and release a radical book on Botswana’s ‘dying’ democracy titled “The Scandalous Murdering of Democracy.” Edited by Dr. Letshwiti Tutwane, a renowned media law scholar and reviewed by Professor Agreement Jotia and one of the progressive legal minds Mboki Chilisa, the 337 paged book goes further to make visionary words of the country’s future if the assault on our democracy by the current regime is allowed to entrench. In this book he also touched on issue relating and leading to the great Gomolemo Motswaledi’s demise. It also have a subtitle which reads: “Are SRCs endangered species under the current regime?”—wherein students expulsions and suspensions are done willy-nilly and have reached level 12. It is a must read. The book shall hit all Book stores across the country soon, so be ready to buy yourself a copy. Lastly we are obliged to admit of course, that recent chaos are uncalled for and the current situation disturbs me and my colleagues greatly. Students are locked between the horns of dilemma if not swimming in a pool of confusion. We are very much aware that some perpetrators from GS 26 BDP and BCP are frequent visitors of Student Welfare offices with efforts to try sabotage our progress. They have even tried to use some of our council members to discredit the SRC. They continue to publish malicious propaganda in newspapers. GS26 BDP and BCP hooligans should learn to accept defeat and respect the voice of the students. UB students shall also vehemently reject those unfounded propaganda meant to vanquish their support to the SRC. The SRC is still agile and students shall be thankful that they have an SRC which is transparent and can expose incompetency of UB managemnt and the Goverment without fear or favor. Only desperate people will jump to discredit the bold UDC led SRC. I must also warn who ever who want to jeopardize and paralyze the SRC that we remain the best, and we fear no one but God. Asi jike! Letla ratwa ke modimo le batho! Yours truly Jacob Jacques Kelebeng UB-SRC President
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 13:22:09 +0000