The Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs would like to clarify some misconceptions that are circulating about the Point Based System (PBS) which was implemented on the 18th of April, 2012.
The PBS was created as a tool that is transparent, flexible, comprehensive and would objectively, in a standardized manner, assist in assessing the eligibility of immigrants as employees or investors in the country. As the system was being newly implemented, it has always been the Ministry’s intention to review the PBS on areas that might be compromising its intentions.
PBS APPROVAL RATE AT 83%
However, since implementation, an average of 83% of Work and Residence Permit applications have been approved while about 17% of the rejected applications are eligible for appeal to the Minister. Despite the high approval rate, the Ministry has received concerns mainly from the private sector calling for review on some areas of the system. Therefore on the 25th of October, 2012, the Ministry met with various members of the private sector, Non Governmental Organisations and religious organizations, in a meeting that was co-hosted by the Botswana Confederation of Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) and the Botswana Investment Trade Centre (BITC) to hear from those being affected by the system how it could be better improved.
Contrary to media reports that state that the pass mark has been reduced to 55%, the Ministry would like to disclose that this was one of the suggestions amongst others that were put forward and as the review is ongoing, the final pass mark has not been decided. The Ministry is thus currently looking into reviewing the areas of concern that were highlighted during this meeting which include but not limited to;
- The pass mark
- Language proficiency
- Scares Skill list
To this effect, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Edwin J. Batshu, met with the Regional Immigrants Selection Boards on the 2nd of November, to look into the suggestions that were put forward to finalise the review of the PBS. The public will be informed once the review process has been completed and approved.
For more information, please contact the Public Relations Office at;
361 1110/5/3959331/74075915 or email: oslekgoko@gov.bw