Limpho Sello
THE Institute of Development Management (IDM) has partnered with Botswana’s Boitekanelo College to offer health courses at its Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland campuses.
Speaking at the two institutes’ recent curriculum development and quality assurance stakeholders’ meeting, IDM Lesotho Registrar, Makhosi Hlalele, said the agreement will see them improving their public health faculty.
IDM was established in 1974 as a regional organisation in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland to help the region meet developmental needs including training, consultancy and research among others.
Ms Hlalele said with Boitekanelo as they partner, they wish to introduce long term health programmes.
“We wish to offer long term programmes in partnership with Boitekanelo among them Emergency Medical Care, Health Promotions, Assistant Nursing and Clinical Technology,” Ms Hlalele said.
“This is because we saw the need in the country since the health sector is key for economic and human development. So, as IDM we want to improve Basotho lives in general by producing qualified professions in the health fraternity.”
Among the stakeholders who attended the meeting were staff from the ministries of Health and that of Education and Training, health institutions and the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) among others. Ms Hlalele said they called the stakeholders to seek their feedback on the programmes they wish to offer and ensure that they will respond to the country’s and the sector’s needs.
“We want to ensure that we will be able to profile these programmes in a manner that on implementation after accreditation, they are able to meet the needs of the country and the health sector in particular,” Ms Hlalele said.
She said the two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding in 2016 and have for the past three years been developing the programmes.
For her part, Boitekanelo College’s Morekwe Selemongwe said the stakeholders’ input was part of their needs assessment.
“We are going to offer programmes that are offered only at Boitekanelo to complement IDM,” Dr Selemongwe said.