26 Jul 2015

Despite government’s efforts to curb the illiteracy rate among the elderly through its Out of School Education and Training (OSET) programme, some men are still hesitant to enrol.

In an interview, Ms Ontebetse Radikolana, an OSET teacher in Metsimotlhabe said she has 15 registered students and that none of them were men despite their high illiteracy level.

Ms Radikolana said it was evident that there were men who could not read and write, and that she has made efforts on several occasions to encourage them but her efforts were in vain.

“The root cause of less numbers of men at OSET is that they are shy and they always wonder what other people will say about them,” she said.

Ms Radikolana, however, commend those that have registered, saying they have made a decision that would benefit them in future. She said three of her students sat for Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and did well, and that one of them was registered with the Botswana College of Distance Learning (BOCODOL) where she was doing Form one.

Ms Radikolana said teaching an elderly person was a mammoth task that could not be achieved overnight.

“One has to be determined and patient to work with them because they forget easily, you can spend time on one thing, it is very burdensome and time consuming as at times they write examinations before they even complete their syllabus because of this slowness,” she observed.

A student, Ms Mmaiki Mojadife said she was forced to enrol with OSET because she heard testimonies of people who benefited from the programme on radio, and that she was tired of asking for assistance from other people.

 She said she was now able to read her medication instructions without any assistance, something she could not do in the past. Ends