This paper presents data arising from a study of the labour force of the manufacturing sector of Gaborone, the capital city of the Republic of Botswana. Under the current National Development Plan, it is hoped that strong growth in this sector will ameliorate unemployment. The study found that the sector absorbs a considerable number of relatively poorly educated people, and low academic achievers from the high school system. There was found to be a high market premium on vocationally-oriented certificate-level post-school qualifications for junior secondary-educated workers. This did not apply to senior secondary-educated workers for whom, however, the acquisition of similarly career-oriented diploma and degree-level qualifications was found to exhibit similar benefits. These various post-school programmes, providers of which are often outside the country, may represent better public investments in `vocational education' than the current emphasis on expanding vocational centres and vocationalising the high school curriculum.