Observations from HRDC fair and STEM festival

The HRDC (Human Resources Development Council) recently held a job/skills/tertiary education fair aimed at school leavers in Gaborone.  A similar one was also held in Francistown. I attended on behalf of the Department of Physics and Astronomy as a scientist on the ground to give insight into the field and to also try and answer the more scientific questions from learners.  The HRDC fair serves as the main enrolment vehicle for BIUST since it is the best way to access learners in the more populated areas of Gaborone and Francistown.

BIUST with the trophy for second best stall at HRDC fair.

I was on duty for a day and a half and during this time I interacted with a number of students. Apart from the expected procedural questions the main question I was confronted with was something along the lines of which course is “most marketable”.  I understood this to mean “which course would deliver me a BMW or a Golf5 the quickest” with little consideration for their own scientific/academic interest.  The question was most prevalent amongst males. I tried to counter this question by asking them what they were interested in, but had little success with answers.

Some came with their parents and in most of these instances the learners did little talking. However, the parents were very engaging, but only to the point where I could support their opinion (and thus choices they have already made on behalf of their offspring).

Only a handful of learners seemed to be informed and/or have given their study choices some thought. Thus it was apparent to me that learners had little knowledge of the job market as well as the options available to them. Consequently, these learners were probably only considering traditional graduate careers or careers to which they have seemingly been exposed to through the media (“chemical and forensic sciences” were the top course for which students enrolled).

I am convinced that these learners are in dire need of guidance and career counselling.  The number of learners successfully enrolling at universities in Botswana may be manageable enough to at least have every candidate complete a personality questionnaire. This can inform their own as well as the university’s decision on whether to enrol them in a specific course.  

At the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) festival in Francistown students were also enrolled, but the main aim of the festival was to expose learners to the STEM subjects. I gave a talk on the first evening and it was well received. I gathered that mostly teachers were in attendance. From the audience questions, it was clear that there is a great need for extensive scientific enrichment for both learners and teachers alike.

I came away from these two events with a renewed sense of responsibility as a scientist, especially one in a developing country where the job market cannot (currently) absorb all the graduates which universities produce. I think the question I will be asking myself for some time will be whether our teaching and degrees actually deliver on the promises we make so liberally to entice young people to enrol for our courses.