Local institutions of higher learning should merge courses that produce the same output of skills in order to make knowledge an essential commodity whilst making it global, the Minister of Tertiary Education Research, Science and Technology, Thapelo Olopeng reckons. Speaking at the first ever University of Botswana (UB) long service awards that saw well over a thousand staff members awarded for their contribution to the growth of the university, Olopeng noted that there is a long road ahead as the country trudges on new and unchartered terrains. “My Ministry has a great task to deliver this economy from a resource based to a knowledge based economy. This task means we must commodify and globalize knowledge, as opposed to domesticating it,” he stated. He said as an institution of higher learning, the country expects UB to develop futuristic and relevant programs that accommodate the needs of the industry. “Days are gone for the University of Botswana to be offering Humanities, Social Sciences and Education courses side by side, because the output of skills is the same,” he said, continuing that in merging the programs into one will allow those who want to go into teaching to take up post graduate courses.…