FAQs

Workplace learning means structured skills training and development strategies that are provided at the workplace. These may include but not limited to; apprenticeship, learnership, traineeship and internship.

Relevant skills are developed and aligned to the world of work and workplace mandate
Reimbursable training costs incurred from the training intervention through the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF)
A motivated workforce

To support and promote the acquisition of relevant skills at workplaces
To align skills and competencies to the Skills Training Plan as informed by the National and Sector Human Resource Development Plans
Promote and encourage Research and Innovation initiatives geared towards achieving the National Human Resource Development Strategy

Work skills training plans describe the organizations training and skills development strategy that will help it to meet its overall objectives and targets.
Useful strategy for achieving professional growth.
Support and promote acquisition of relevant skills at workplaces.
Coordinate and direct the implementation of skills development interventions.
Supports training opportunities in the workplace for employees to acquire the essential skills to do their jobs competently, safely and productively.
Acts as a continuous improvement tool for feedback and assessment activities.

These plans seek to address the misalignment between the supply of graduates and the demand for skills from the labour market. Lack of requisite skills to meet job requirements of employers has been identified as one of the major reasons attributed to graduate unemployment.

The approach is a divergence from the Manpower Planning Approach which is used to be undertaken by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning until 1987. Sector Driven National Human Resource Development Planning is a collaborative integrated systems approach to human resource development planning that links together national policies and strategies, education and skills development, the labour market and the economy and which cuts across separate jurisdictions to ensure a pan-Botswana National Human Resource Development Plan. Human resource development planning approach will ensure Botswana’s successful transitions from a resource driven to an efficiency driven economy and to lay the foundation for a subsequent transition to a knowledge based, innovation economy.

Sectoral Committees represent key and strategic sectors of the economy and are partnerships that work together to form a strategic collaborative alliance. Their purpose is to provide a single nexus which focuses on determining the human resource development needs and skills and designing collaborative actions that serve the long term needs of the sector. Sectoral Committees ensure that there is a direct linkage between the supply of graduates and the skills demand of the economy.

Oversee the production and periodic review of sector specific HRD plans that will ensure a direct linkage between the education and skills that are being developed and the needs of the economy;
Provide a forum for constant dialogue and consensus building among stakeholders in the sector on all matters relating to HRD;
Provide advice to HRDC on the emerging economic trends and relevant education and training and skills needs of the sectors;
Provide advice on appropriate measures to deal with any mismatch between demand and supply of human resource in the sectors;
Identify planned major projects that require human resource impact assessment studies and make recommendations for their formulations and execution;
Provide a sounding board for the sector to advice the HRDC to discus, review and validate national and sector HRD plans;
Ensure a linkage with the strategies of Government by ensuring interaction with Economic Diversification Drive (EDD), hubs and others;
Ensure linkages with other sectors to deal with cross sector occupations and skills that fall outside the scope of a specific sector and which needs to be incorporated in the National Human Resource Plan;
Embed a commitment from employers within the sector to invest in the training of their employees and in the development of education and training; to provide internships and to advice on the optimal use of the Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF) and the Human Resource Development Fund.

HRDC Grant Project initiated in 2013 and ideally to be conducted on bi-annual basis, open to Tertiary Education Institutions (TEIs) and other stakeholders. The 2nd cohort of projects received grants in the 2016/17 financial year.
Sponsorship to individuals in based on the value-addition of their proposal
Currently there is no budget to pursue the HRDC Research & Innovation Grant Project this financial year.

The Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) is a levy based Fund established for the purpose of promoting workplace learning. It is operated through a Levy Grant System, where companies pay a levy that is a percentage of their annual turnover into the Fund and reimbursed costs that they incurred for training of their employees.

The Levy Grant Scheme focuses only on company in-service training by creating incentives for a company to invest more in the skills development of its workforce. The eligible training can be either in house on the job training or outsourced training, with more focus on soft skills and technical and vocational education. Workplace training may lead to an award in the form of either a certificate or transcript showing competencies acquired or in some instances particularly on product related training there is no certificate.

Institutional Planning (IP) is a strategy that is employed to ensure that Tertiary Education sub-sector is systematically positioned to respond to the Human Resource Development needs of Botswana’s economy. As such, IP ensures that the output of the Tertiary Education institutions matches the priorities of the economy needs, not just learner’s preferences.