Graduate Employability: The Case of Botswana Open University, Certificate in Vocational Education and Training (CVET)

Graduate employability has been a topic of interest to governments, training institutions, industry and graduates. In 2009 Botswana Training Authority (BOTA) identified a gap in the market of the lack of training skills among the trainers for the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). To close the gap, BOTA developed the unit standards for the training of trainers programme. The Botswana Open University (BOU) together with other higher education institutions adopted this program in 2016 and offered the training to the in-service as well as prospective trainers. The program is offered for a duration of 6 months. The study employed the qualitative research approach, which consisted of unstructured interviews to explore the perceptions of the employability of CVET graduates and their incorporation of employability skills acquired from the programme. A purposive sample of 20 graduates from five regional campuses were interviewed, premised on the overarching question: To what extent does CVET improve on the employability of its graduates? The findings of the study show that the CVET program is not only one of the popular short programs but its graduates are also employable.