03 Aug 2014

The Acting Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi is concerned about the amount of money lost through water wastage in government schools.

Speaking during his visit to Maoka Junior Secondary School in Gaborone of Friday (August 1), he said the country loses thousands of litres of water on a daily basis, some of it through leakages from faulty pipes in schools.

“Every hour we are losing 10 000 litres of fresh portable water through wastage,” he said after finding water spewing from malfunctioning standpipes and flushing systems in some school toilets.

He said the ministry of education pays millions of Pula in water bills annually, and those amounts would be reduced if water wastage was prevented, and the money could be used to effect other developments in the education system.

“We are paying millions every year, millions for water alone. The money that could be used to increase teachers’ houses or improve salaries is used to pay water bills,” he said.

The purpose of the acting minister’s visit was to share with teachers what the ministry intends to do to address issues affecting them and hear their concerns.

He explained to teachers that his ministry viewed them and students as valuable resources, therefore it prioritised delivery of quality education, hence education got the biggest budget of around P9 billion from government.

He said going forward, his ministry wanted to address all challenges affecting education by ensuring that schools were adequately provided with text books, laboratories had all equipment required, and that teachers had enough houses for accommodation.

Mr Masisi further said government was planning to commit more funds to building of more classrooms because many schools are currently operating with shortage of classrooms.

He also briefed teachers that the ministry was in the process of introducing a schools improvement programme which is headed by the cabinet sub-committee dedicated at sorting out education resources of government schools. The system would capture data for all schools including schools facilities, enrolment, staff compliment and others. ENDS