10 Dec 2014

The Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi, has told Parliament of the need to transform the education sector to achieve world class instruction so as to foster globally competitive citizens.

He said when responding to the State-of-Nation Address on December 9, that the transformation was an affirmation of the importance of education as an engine of growth for the economy.

“To advance this effort, the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) has been delegated the task of creating an economic-demand driven framework for the enhancement of our human capital,” he said.

He said as the minister responsible, he was closely monitoring performance of the education sector to ensure that pupils had access to the necessary materials and equipment that supported learning.

He said they continued to construct and resource libraries in schools, including ensuring that there was internet connectivity nationally, the move, he said would facilitate improved quality of education and bridge the divide between districts and urban people.

On other issues, he said government had succeeded in reducing the rate of poverty from 47 per cent in 1993/94 to 36 per cent in 2002/03 and to 19.3 per cent in 2009/10. He said this was not enough, and noted that government made an unprecedented commitment to eradicate abject or extreme poverty during the 11^th Parliament.

He said government had amongst other things introduced the Ipelegeng programme, which had cumulatively employed 336 542 people in 2014/15. He said the programme had contributed to sustaining many households that could otherwise be in poverty, as they strive to better their livelihoods.

Mr Masisi further reiterated the need to establish an enabling framework for the sustainable development of small businesses by supporting such measures as the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) local procurement preference.

He said some of the opposition members had overlooked the President’s report that EDD had through local procurement also contributed to the creation of employment for 28 000 Batswana.

“These are not just raw figures, these are 28 000 families being enabled to put food on the table, and more of these industries will continue to sustain our people and the economy,” he said. ENDS