Windhoek
A group of twelve educators and administrators from Botswana this week visited Namibia as part of an educational exchange programme with Namcol.
The delegation, from the Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning (Bocodol), was on a three-day visit that started on Monday. The two sister colleges met to share experiences and cement the already existing relationship that was forged a few years ago.
In his welcoming remarks, the director of Namcol, Heroldt Murangi, said the visit “comes a long way because we started planning for it since last year”.
He said the relationship between Namcol and Bocodol “is cast in stone because a MoU between the two institutions was entered into about five years ago”.
Murangi highlighted four crucial areas in which the two institutions are collaborating and sharing experience, namely quality assurance, material exchange, collaborative research and staff exchange.
“These are very crucial areas the two institutions need to work on and can team up to share resources. Namcol is ready to share its resources and in the process advance our common agenda.”
On his part, the Bocodol head of delegation, Thladi Lekopanye, thanked Namcol for the invitation.
The main objective of the visit was to benchmark some of the spheres of learning where Namcol is doing an excellent job, he explained.
“The whole benchmarking exercise aims to acquire ideas, knowledge and information on infrastructure requirements for setting up an online radio streaming service.”
The Bocodol delegation interrogated Namcol’s online campus radio operational processes and procedures with an intention to learn from Namcol’s experience, and how to set up and run such an initiative.
Lekopanye said that his colleagues were particularly keen to learn more about some of the innovations at Namcol, particularly in programme design, procurement, material distribution and learner support once students have registered.
As part of the education exchange programme, four Namcol area coordinators visited Bocodol for a week last year.
Last year Bocodol staff also performed a quality assurance audit on Namcol’s operations. “Namcol will reciprocate in 2016 with the same agenda. Material exchanges and above all collaborative research are also key areas of co-operation because people want to hear about crucial areas of concern and interest in the two sisters countries,” said Murangi.
The two institutions pledged to do more to bolster their collaborative project.
The Bocodol delegation returned to Botswana on Wednesday.