31 Mar 2016

Liberating the mind is the best way to eradicate   poverty, says the acting chief executive officer of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC). 

Speaking at a signing ceremony of a memorandum of agreement between the HRDC and Ghanzi Brigade, Dr Patrick Molutsi said the greatest poverty eradication was dealing with capability poverty. 

“It is necessary to liberate the mind and make it ready to accept even the little material and use it properly, without that, the mind will continue to be poor,” he said.

Dr Molutsi added that literacy and self-actualisation came from empowering people with skills. 

“It is important for HRDC to act as an agent of change and reach out to the general population, as well as dealing with universities, colleges and other institutions of formal training,” he said.He noted that the mandate of his organisation was to promote education and training as part of the human resource development.

He added that HRDC was expected to touch the lives of Batswana in every corner of the country by finding ways of giving them the skills to improve their lives.

He said Ghanzi District was one of the most disadvantaged in terms of access, particularly on energy as the population was small and scattered in remote villages.

 For his part, Ghanzi Brigade principal, Mr Olefhile Mochotlhi said cooperation with HRDC was essential for effective and efficient capacity building as well as demand driven skills development.

He added that his institution was keen to reach out to the community and that they were willing to partner in trying new ideas.

“As much as we value our relationship with Barefoot College in India, what we have seen at Barefoot College is something that our institutions, particularly the brigades need to practice,” he said.

He said there were capable leaders and lecturers in brigades who could pursue some of the training and experiences in solar energy, practiced at Barefoot College. ENDS