25 Jan 2015

Assistant Minister of Education Dr Unity Dow has commended teachers for the important work they do. Officially Opening the third annual Guidance and Counselling Open Day organised by Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) recently, Dr Dow said the place of Guidance and Counselling in the education system is central to the development of Botswana.

She said moulding and improving students’ performance calls for personal devotion and calls for teachers to be parents and not just workers.

“The ministry cannot be there without teachers and for that I congratulate you,” she said.

The Open Day is a capacity building initiative of the university designed to improve the quality of guidance and counselling tuition in both public and private senior secondary schools so as to meaningfully boost the human resource capital development of the country.

Dr Dow further said assisting students to navigate appropriate career paths through institutions such as BIUST has far reaching and lifelong benefits for students, employers, the economy of the country and the nation at large.

She said the effective and successful delivery of Guidance and Counselling in schools depends on those teachers who have been entrusted with this most delicate and sensitive responsibility.

“I wish to take this opportunity to applaud and appreciate your service and the sacrifice you have taken to build lives and characters for our country.

In addition she said life choices that children and students make are influenced amongst others by the information available to them thus it is important that the guidance and counselling teachers are adequately resourced and supported if they are to guide students meaningfully from a range of available literature.

This, she said in turn could bring confidence to guidance and counselling teachers, which would in turn give students the poise and awareness to apply themselves towards their goals and dreams.

For his part Director Pre-University Programmes, Dr Haniso Motlhabane gave away four awards to guidance and counselling teachers. Mr Thatayaone Modise of Selibe Phikwe CJSS scooped Outstanding Guidance and Counselling Award.

Distinguished Service and Guidance and Counselling Award was awarded to Ms Boikhutso Majang of Naledi Senior School, whilst Ms Grace Kutoro of Seepapitso Senior school scooped the Guidance and Counselling project of the year award.ENDS