01 Apr 2013

The Ministry of Education and Skills Development does not keep statistics of children by their ethnicity, as Botswana is a multi-racial nation and statics is kept based on whether someone is a citizen and non-citizen.

Answering a question in Parliament, the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Patrick Masimolole explained that the statistics does not indicate drop outs in terms of ethnicity.

 Mr Masimolole said at national level, the number of drop outs for the Junior Secondary School (JSS) and Senior Secondary School (SSS) for the year 2012 was 2 361, made up of 983 males and 1 378 females.

The Assistant Minister however did not have specific programmes for Basarwa.

To minimise dropouts nationally, Mr Masimolole said the ministry was strengthening training of guidance and counseling officers in the regions. The programme itself, he said would also be reviewed to make it more relevant.

In addition, Mr Masimolole said the circles of support programmes involved stakeholders within communities in motivating children to see the value of education.

“Children who abscond from school are normally called to motivational sessions with their parents when they are identified. Some of the children are assisted through Multiple Disciplinary Centres and District Youth Forums,” he added.

Kanye South MP, Mr Kesupile had asked the minister to state the number of Basarwa children, by sex, who enrolled in the JSS for the school calendar year 2011 and 2012.

Mr Kesupile also wanted to know the number considered drop outs for the JSS and SSS for each year (2011 and 2012) and the efforts of the ministry to ensure that Botswana children stayed longer in school to complete each level of secondary education. ENDS