Course Guide APP launched
Tefo Matladiile, a 23 year old graduate of Psychology and Public Administration from the University of Botswana became a social entrepreneur at the height of the Covid -19 pandemic when she launched her mobile application, Course Guide App on the 15th of March 2021. A year down the line, the app has over 1200 users in over 20 countries worldwide, including countries like South Africa, India, USA, UK, Australia, Nigeria and Botswana.
Matladiile hails from Lerala village and has no background in the mobile application world or programming world. The genesis of Course Guide app began when Matladiile and her friends were applying for tertiary institutions. “A lot of us apply for tertiaries without full knowledge of what we want, how to apply or even if the courses are marketable in this era, also we are oblivious of the available opportunities out there and we end up missing out, even making choices that have lifelong consequences.”
Moreover, Matladiile observed that they did not know about free international scholarships that are available to young Batswana and these factors, plus the added strain of the covid pandemic on the application process of students to tertiary institutions made her come up with a solution.
Course guide app’s mission is embedded in combating misinformation, bringing academic opportunities closer to students as most young people have mobile phones and simplifying the transition from form 5 to tertiary, simple as most young people cannot grapple some of the complexities of applying for tertiary institutions.
Armed with knowledge she got in mentorship programmes such as Project 124 entrepreneurship development programme, Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, Young Minds Mentorship pathway and whatever she could teach herself on business, entrepreneurship and the digital space, Matladiile hired a software developer who built the application.
Course Guide brings all the tertiary institutions of Botswana in one site, students can look at their options easier, also because it is a zero rated app as it only needs data when downloading but scrolling and navigating through
the app does not need mobile data, it makes it easier for people in villages and remote areas where there is no strong network connectivity. The mobile app is available on Google stores for free, making the application easily accessible for most prospective tertiary students in the country.
Matladiile states that they will introduce virtual tours of institutions in the near future and will outline the most marketable courses, so that users may know how flooded the market is before getting into a course.