BOITEKANELO COLLEGE CELEBRATES 15 YEARS
It’s 15 years since Dr. Tiro Mampane quit his job as a doctor at Princess Marina Hospital to start Boitekanelo Training Institute, which has since changed name to Boitekanelo College, and the College is celebrating the milestone.
The College has since grown in leaps and bounds. From just four employees and 20 students studying for certificate programmes, the college currently has 200 staffers and 2,500 students and has produced over 6,000 graduates over the years and offers a wide range of health related programmes up to degree level. To celebrate the achievements, growth and reception by community, the College has events lined up as part of the celebrations. On 29th April, the College will show appreciation to the people who made it what it is and those who continue to make it grow in an event to recognise both past and current staff.
A week later on 7th May, other stakeholders including industry will be shown appreciation at the Gaborone International Conference Centre. In line with the College’s mantra of ‘Continuous Improvement and Collaboration’, the College will interact with students and alumni to get feedback, which will help map the best way forward.
The College will further give 15 scholarships to celebrate their 15th anniversary and as part of their community social responsibility. A charity race is also billed for the 21st of May. The 15km race will help raise funds to construct a two-bedroomed house complete with fittings such as stove for a poor Tlokweng widow. The family, which has no electricity and water, will finally have running water and power according to Dr. Mampane.
The woman has to raise her 10 children and grandchildren. Fate has dealt the widow a further tragedy as she has also lost her sister who left her with a further six children and grandchildren to feed and provide a roof over their heads. Currently the large family lives in a tin shack in the rough Tlokweng neighbourhood named Sotoma. There are 12 grandchildren in total.
Dr. Mampane says it has not been an easy 15 years as he gazes into the past. “Everyday is like we are in a boxing ring,” he stated in an interview with this newspaper. Boitekanelo Training Institute, as the College was once known, initially offered only a Certificate in Healthcare Assistance (HCA).
During its second year, 2008, another programme, Certificate in Phlebotomy, was introduced and academic staff was increased to six members to cater for the 150 students. It was in the same year accredited by Botswana Qualification Authority (BQA).
Five more certificate programmes were introduced in 2009 and the College relocated to Kopano House to accommodate further growth with over forty members of staff.
In 2010 Boitekanelo registered with the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) and affiliated with the Parkway College of Singapore and built their first campus in Mogoditshane Block 9. The enrolment then rose to 500 students.
In 2011 the college, which changed its name to Boitekanelo College, needed two premises to accommodate its phenomenal growth. Five diploma programmes had been added which helped the College attract 1,000 students per semester.
As enrolment grew, it necessitated the construction of the main campus in Tlokweng in 2012. There were 1,200 students with staff complement of over 120. For quality improvement and assurance, the College affiliated to the Cape Penninsula University of Technology,
a South African University. The following year, degree and higher national diploma programmes were introduced and the first graduation ceremony was held.
In 2014 the College relocated to the newly constructed Tlokweng main campus, which remains its home hitherto. It was also in the same year that they attained COHSASA accreditation and held the first Emergency Medical Conference and affiliated to another South African university, the University of Free State and added more degree programmes while also constructing Phase 3 of Tlokweng campus.
Other milestones that followed include but are not limited to completion of Phase 3 building and relocation of the Mogoditshane campus to Tlokweng. The Institute of Development Management (IDM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the College for the development of academic cooperation in Emergency Medical Care. The College has also partnered with the University of Stellenbosch and University of Cape Town to upskill the faculty.
With over 5000 of Boitekanelo College graduates employed, Dr. Mampane stated: “If you go to some private hospitals, or call an ambulance, the chances that the paramedic or staffer is Boitekanelo College graduate are 99.9%.”