GUC holds historic graduation ceremony
The Gaborone University College of Law and Professional Studies (GUC) capped just over 3,000 graduates on Friday, in a graduation ceremony held at the Ditshupo Hall at Fairgrounds. It was a historic moment for the learning institution as this is the highest number of graduates from the college. The school has grown in leaps and bounds from its first ever graduation in 2008 when there were no fewer than 100 graduates.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Education and Skills Development, Douglas Letsholathebe lauded the learning institution for its investment in developing early childhood educators. He said government has since adopted early childhood education in public primary schools. Letsholathebe said it is a fundamental exercise as education should start at a child’s youngest age while graduates also have a larger range of opportunities after leaving school.
“We worked together to implement the programme with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development since, as you may know, we both have responsibility for providing primary education. With a total enrolment of 27,519 students and 1,292 teachers, 89% of public schools already provide the programme, and more than 50 schools have just started implementing it in the sub-region.”
“There are 1,149 daycare centres across the nation, according to data; therefore the private sector is equally involved in preschool service. There are 16 private facilities, two community-owned centres, and one faith-based centre in the Bobirwa sub-region.
Centres accept children as young as two-and-ahalf years old through to the age of six. The government’s reception class programme presently accepts children as young as four-and-a-half years old, and in the long run, my ministry will look into accepting children as young as a year old,” Letsholathebe said. For his part, the assistant minister for State President, Dumezweni Mthimkhulu encouraged GUC Class of 2022 to use the skills and knowledge they acquired from the learning institution to be game changers in the working industry.
“Today marks the end but yet the beginning of another journey of a life full of excitement and a promising future. I congratulate you on reaching the end of your study life. Go out there and serve the world. Be resilient and persistent in whatever you do. Only then will you be able to make a difference in your lives and the lives of others,” Mthimkhulu said. The GUC Class of 2022 graduated from courses such as Early Childhood Education, Occupation Health and Safety, Law and Business Administration, amongst others.