The Institute of Development Management Academic Council held a two day virtual meeting last week to discuss matters pertaining to education, training, research and consultancy in its three campuses of Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.
The Council is the principal policy-making and advisory body on all academic matters affecting IDM’s teaching, research and learning programmes. It comprises academics representing the academic diversity of the tripartite and provides advice to the leadership of IDM on several academic issues, further guiding the alignment to the national agendas of IDMs three founding countries.
IDM Regional Director and Chief Executive Samkelo Lushaba said IDM’s regional presence provides a strong competitive advantage to the institution which is able to share expertise and mobilize resources to the benefit of its three campuses. “IDM is the only institution that still ties our three nations to one common agenda. We are able to draw skills and experiences from one another as a tripartite and are now able to collaborate with other countries beyond the tripartite, imparting our experiences and sharing knowledge with other territories,” said Lushaba. He highlighted that IDM supports the United Nations education pillar towards bringing down the barriers to academic access as guided by SDG 4; “To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
Commenting on the networks IDM has formed over the years of its existence to support its mandate, the Regional Director shared that through education and academic exchange, IDM tripartite has impressed on building international relationships not only in the three countries, but regionally and globally. He explained that networks not only strengthen the Institute’s quality of programmes, but also deepen IDMs presence on the international stage.
“Our programmes and services are duly accredited by the regulators in our markets. Their development is further informed by national policies of our three countries. Academic Council thus, supports IDM as an ISO certified institution to conform to academically credible regulatory standards,” he revealed. IDM is a regional institution with strong local presence and global reach. The institution has built strategic partners, spanning from the academia, public as well as private sectors. It operates under the general direction of a Governing Board composed of representatives from Government, industry and universities in each country.
Lushaba indicated that the Institute engages its key stakeholders to constantly invest in efforts to improve the cognitive, personal, and interpersonal competencies of its graduates, leveraging on internationalisation and exchange programmes towards ensuring a unique graduate profile for its students. “We are proud of producing industry-sought graduates, most of whom hold high profile positions in the market,” he asserted adding that “we have successfully built and entrenched solid relationships with Governments and other key stakeholders in the three countries and beyond”.
