10 Dec 2015

Vision 2016 mmonitoring and evaluation director, Dr Pelotsweu Moepeng, says a study that they have conducted shows that Batswana continue to embrace Vision 2016.

The survey addressed progress made in the realisation of the vision goals and objectives, he said at the  opinion survey dissemination workshop in Gaborone on Wednesday. Dr Moepeng stated that the survey, which had 1 777 respondents, was conducted in 10 administrative districts during August and September 2015. 

He said that it revealed that the majority of respondents across all localities had heard about the vision. He pointed out that 85.7 per cent of people across the nation knew about Vision 2016.

Dr Moepeng said a lot of progress had been made to achieve the vision tenet - An Educated and Informed Nation, saying Botswana was ranked 12^th in the world in terms of education spending as a percentage of GDP at 8.9 per cent. He said 60 per cent of Batswana feel that living conditions have improved for the better, including housing, health, clothing and food consumption.

He said living standards in farm lands have improved marginally, with 39.2 per cent reporting improvement in their living standards compared to the last five years.

Dr Moepeng also stated that most people feel that unemployment is on the decline despite it being pegged at 19 per cent for a middle income country.

He stated that 90.8 per cent of the people interviewed feel that disadvantaged persons in society are getting adequate care and that 55.7 per cent of the respondents are satisfied with services provided by health care facilities.

He further said that about 60 percent of the respondents confirm various international agencies reports that Botswana is one of the best governed countries and least corrupt in Africa.

He also stated that 90.5 per cent of the respondents also opine that ethical standards have improved in the past five years.

Dr Moepeng stated that the report shows concern at the lag in self-employment and learning of new skills, rated very lowly at 15.5 per cent.

He said various literature and various national forums have highlighted that many Batswana still look up to government to provide them with jobs.

The workshop was also facilitated to find areas that require acceleration within the remaining period of Vision 2016. Ends