UB ranked 19th in Africa

The University of Botswana has been ranked number 19 among the 100 accredited colleges and universities in Africa.Known as the four International Colleges & Universities, the organisation is an international higher education search engine and directory reviewing accredited Universities and Colleges in the world and includes 11,160 colleges and universities in 200 countries. It ranks by web popularity.

The report, which has been published since 2005, was released last month. It is intended to help international students and academic staff to understand how popular a specific university or college is in a foreign country. Out of the 17 078 students enrolled at UB for the 2011/2012 academic year, 405 come from other SADC countries while 505 are from the rest of the world. Commenting on the development, UB spokesperson Mhitshane Reetsang said the ranking shows that the institution remains borderless.

She revealed that by 2016, ten percent of the student population would be foreigners. With the existence of private colleges and universities, speculation is rife that the UB is losing its place in the tertiary education industry. The public perception is that the mushrooming of these schools poses a threat to the UB. However, Reetsang is adamant that in its 30 years’ existence, UB has a solid foundation. “We know our position and why we exist,” she says.

“We are not a vocational institution and our students fit in all sectors of the economy.” She is also aware of the perception that UB is slowly becoming a second thought for students. But she maintains that the UB is a tried and tested institution, which attracts nothing but the crème of the nation. In fact the presence of other tertiary institutions is an indication that the whole nation cannot be academic. “If it is competition, it is positive and useful because serving the interest of the nation makes us to come off our comfort zone,” she says.