15 Feb 2016

The Ministry of Education and Skills Development has sent 18 secondary school teachers to work in Seychelles.

The venture was part of the two countries’ cooperation in capacity building in teacher training and continuing professional development of teachers in the area of english, biology, physics, geography and history.

Speaking at the send-off ceremony, Minister of Education and Skills Development Dr Unity Dow said the initiative demonstrated Botswana’s commitment towards the memorandum of understanding signed between Botswana and Seychelles on September 15 last year.

She said the development spoke to the ministry’s vision of producing globally competitive human resources by 2016.

She said it was an clear indication that her ministry had produced quality graduates whose qualifications and competencies were recognised internationally.

She said the teachers formed the second batch of Batswana who had been employed internationally after her ministry facilitated the recruitment of 11 teachers of Setswana by the government of Namibia in 2015.

She said the send-off symbolised an achievement of one of the flagship tenets of the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP), which was approved by Cabinet in May 2015 and launched in June of the same year.

She added that it further expressed the ministry’s ambition to build a well-diversified knowledge based economy, away from over-reliance on natural resources.

She said the endeavour contributed to reduction of youth graduate unemployment as 13 of the teachers had been temporary teachers in a pool of more than 5 000 graduates awaiting permanent employment in the ministry’s graduate database.

Dr Dow urged then teachers to portray professionalism and Botho that Batswana were well known for globally. She advised them to be Botswana’s ambassadors in Seychelles.
She further told them that the engagement would be for two years, therefore their conduct and performance should justify renewal of their contracts.

For his part, Ambassador of Seychelles accredited to Botswana Mr Claude Morel said the countries shared common values and aspirations relating to the betterment of their people as testified by the mutual agreement.

He said Botswana was a model to follow in the field of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

He thanked the teachers for making Seychelles their adopted country. ENDS