16 Nov 2016

European Union head of delegation, Mr Alexander Baum has implored secondary school heads to create a generation that will take Botswana to the level of a developed country.

Speaking during the on-going secondary school heads conference, Mr Baum said it is upon school heads to show the world that they were capable of taking the country through the next 50 years as it would be more difficult than the past 50 years to take Botswana to the level of a developed country.

“Batswana have all the reasons to be optimistic and have dreams but it is the schools that have to be the creator of the dreams and as school leaders you play a central role in that endeavour,” he said.

Mr Baum urged school heads to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, self-direction and self-initiated learning. 

He said school heads should in their quest to be performing and collaborative leaders attempt to undergo paradigm shift.

“Everyone in your school should be ready to undergo a mental metamorphosis, they should be re-born and emerge with a win mentality,” he said. Mr Baum said schools should believe their ultimate measure is not where they stand in moments of comfort but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.

Earlier the national school heads conference chairperson, Mr Lapologang Kolagano said the conference was aimed at improving the declining performance of public schools.

Mr Kolagano said when performance decline stakeholders should not point fingers at each but should rather identify the missing link. 

He said through the theme of the conference, Collaborative Leadership: A key to Improving the Management of Public Education in Botswana the conference wishes to identify the missing link and address it.

He said the first approach of improving management in schools is to view them as organisations that are made up of different units that function properly.

“We need to ask ourselves how units in our schools support each other rather than only being responsive in times of crisis,” he said. Mr Kolagano said stakeholders should also consider how national issues will impact on the schools’ performance citing policies as example.

Mr Kolagano said global issues such as the use of cellphones should also be taken into consideration hence the need for role clarity and the need for everyone to play their roles.

He cited the Kweneng area where he indicated that the Kgosikgolo divided his dikgosi among the schools to help instill discipline, applauding the initiative . BOPA