The Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) has enrolled 20 ICT graduates into its Youth Associate ICT Programme, the ICTAssociate@BITRI. The 20 were enrolled in Gaborone and they reported on April 7. The institution plans to enrol other 20 participants in Palapye and a further batch of 20 in Kanye.
The programme, BITRI said, aims to develop entrepreneurial skills among Botswana youth. “The competency-based programme where young Batswana will be involved in BITRI research projects over a 2-year period will use hands-on experiential teaching techniques and interactive participation to prepare participants for planning, starting, and operating a small business in the ICT sector,” the institution indicated.
The programme aims to develop an array of competencies in ICT pursuits as well as qualities leading to self esteem, critical thinking and problem solving skills needed for an effective management of a start-up business. Its emphasis will be placed on amongst other things, innovation, market research, financing, business opportunity identification, goal setting, business planning, business start-up process, presentation skills, presentation to financiers, time management, and day-to-day activities of owning/operating a small business.
Kitso Kasani, a Bachelors Degree in Telecommunications Engineering holder, told Gazette Business that she believes that BITRI will provide her with the platform to use the skills she learnt from school, and also to practicalise them. “I hope and believe that I’m going to learn a lot and get experience. I really wish to one day develop a product from scratch and create employment for other people,” said Kasani, a graduate of St Pietersburg State University in Russia.
She said through BITRI she is going to get foundational practical skills which entail applying theory to produce products. “I’m particularly interested in the communications infrastructure part of the programme because it deals with the things I know, it deals with signalling processing techniques, which I did at school” she said.