14 Mar 2013

Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development says the education workshop held on Tuesday came at the time when Botswana was grappling with issues of reforms in its education system.

Speaking at the official opening of the workshop, Mr Patrick Masimolole said it came at a time when the country had to tackle issues of access, equity, relevance, quality, teacher-competencies, learner performance and stakeholder involvement.

The workshop discussed the country's school system and feedback on how the country was doing compared to other partners of the Inclusive Education Project.

An inclusive education system was defined as one that included and met the needs of all including those with special education needs.

However, Mr Masimolole said the workshop and the project were in fact facilitating the fulfillment of the SADC protocol on education and training, which came into effect in July 2000.

The protocol stated that, among others, the community should develop and implement policies and strategies that promoted the participation and contribution of the private sector, non-governmental organisations and any other key stakeholders in the provision of education and training.

The protocol should also work towards the reduction and eventual elimination of constraints to better and free access, by citizen member states to good quality education and training opportunities within the region.

This protocol was informed by other international conventions including the World Conference on special Needs Education of 1994 which concluded that schools should accommodate all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions.

Meanwhile, the primary objective of the Inclusive Education Project is to allow partner countries to compare practice and policy issues on inclusive education, and conduct research on democratic and inclusive approaches to learning in teacher education with a view to strengthening pre-service and in-service teacher training. ENDS