Parliamentary Committee, DDT College meet over students impasse

For the first time, DDT College was given the opportunity to present its case before Parliament. This publication can reveal that DDT College led by Derrick Tlhoiwe appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education and Skills Development led by Member of Parliament for Maun West Carterpillar Hikuama on Wednesday.

The meeting followed Government sponsored students at the College had written and submitted a petition to Hikuama MP and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee to present to the National Assembly, in which the students highlighted a number of grievances including non-accreditation of courses offered at the institution. According to sources, who some happen to be committee members it was realised that some of the contents in the petition were matters that are currently being resolved in court between Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) and the College. It is understood that BQA and DDT are in the process of settling the matter out of court. The case is in relation to the delay in accreditation of certain courses by BQA. It is said that the committee acknowledged that they had been misled by the students on certain aspects of the matter.

The committee also pledged to intervene and assist in resolving the issue for the benefit of both the students and the institution, which is 100% citizen owned However, concerns were raised about the involvement of Deputy Speaker Helen Manyenyeng, who is also the MP for Mmopane-Metsimotlhabe. Her role in the matter has come under scrutiny after she reportedly brought some of the suspended students to the meeting — a move criticised by some committee members. Manyenyeng is not part of the committee and was never supposed to attend the session, raising questions about the appropriateness of her involvement.

DDT officials have confirmed that indeed they made submission to the committee yesterday but refused to divulged some of the issues that were discussed. Committee Chairperson Caterpillar Hikuama also confirmed the DDT appearance and assured that they will amicably resolve it for the interest of both the students and the institution. Of recent the institution has experienced turbulence of students’ unrest, police interventions and blocked admissions. It came to the attention of this publication that there were invisible hands of competitors and compromised officials from the BQA who were allegedly working to destabilise the college.