Govt. did not place IAS students – Letsholathebe
Ministry just playing supporting role
Education minister Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe found himself placed between a rock and a hard place when asked to account on how his ministry reached a decision to allow stranded aviation students to complete studies outside Botswana.
When IAS Aviation Academy closed doors unexpectedly many paid up students were left stranded, a development that enraged parents who demanded that their children be allowed to complete studies elsewhere.
Currently, a total of 91 students have been placed in different institutions in South Africa and Namibia, at an undisclosed cost as the ministry claims it is still waiting for an audit report.
In fact, the ministry argues that it did not send any students to either South Africa or Namibia, but that the students independently secured admission at their preferred institutions. They were placed thus:
43 Air School of South Africa has 13, Eagle Air ( South Africa 24), Worcester Flying Club ( South Africa 5), Safoma ( South Africa 2), Lanseria ( South Africa 12 ), Madiba Bay Flight School ( South Africa 1), Blue Chip ( South Africa 10), Loutzavia ( South Africa 4), African Union Aviation ( South Africa 7), U- Fly Training School ( South Africa 1), Namibian Aviation Training Academy( Namibia 8) and Signa Flying Club of Namibia has four ( 4). Asked if the decision to transfer the students was informed by the audit outcome, Letsholathebe said the ministry
made a decision to support the students to complete their outstanding training in September 2018 before the decision to undertake an audit was made.
He said the decision was taken in the best interest of the affected students while engagements were ongoing with the Education and Training Provider through BQA and after undertaking consultations with other key stakeholders on the matter. “Please note that the ministry did not transfer students to alternative institutions. Rather, the students sought placement at various institutions in the region as per standing procedure.
“They submitted their admission letters to the ministry and requested for re- sponsorship since their sponsorships had lapsed, in order to facilitate completion of their outstanding training,” the minister said. Letsholathebe could not be drawn to discuss if IAS owes government stating that the audit report is being finalised by the Office of the Auditor General and the ministry has had the opportunity to have an exit meeting with the office on the preliminary findings which cannot be shared pending finalisation.
However, he confirmed that IAS has not been informed about the report as the final report is yet to be released and could not be drawn to say if his ministry has plans to share the audit report findings with the public.
“This matter will be addressed at the time when the report is available,” he said.
Asked if government will pay the students’ tuition at the various institutions, Letsholathebe said the total cost will be determined after all the affected students have been sponsored, which process is still ongoing.
Asked if IAS management had been informed about the ministry’s decision to transfer the students and what their response had been, the minister reiterated that the ministry made a decision to support the students to complete their studies in 2018 before the decision to undertake the audit was made
Asked if under the Learner Protection Policy of Botswana Qualification Authority ( BQA) IAS should not cover the costs, Letsholathebe explained that Regulation 14 ( 1) of the Botswana Qualification Authority ( Accreditation and Learning Programmes) Regulations, 2016 requires for ETPs to teach out the affected learners or transfer learners into similar learning programmes in other ETPS should the decision be made by BQA.
“It is improper, in our opinion, to discuss our engagements with IAS through the media,” he said. Asked if it will be fair to conclude that the former PS Dr. Theophilus Mooko was right to say government did not owe IAS any money, Letsholathebe answered:
“The Audit report is still being finalised. The office of the PS is handling this matter and not an individual”.