11 Jun 2017

Stakeholders in the education sector have been encouraged to bring in the aspect of creativity in the learning environment and the education system.

This was said by the director of Curriculum Development and Evaluation in the Ministry of Basic Education (MoBE) Mr Leonard Mutheto as he encouraged those who had attended a two-day national Basic Education Pitso in Maun to equip learners with the necessary skills that would empower the learner for future recently.

“A teacher’s responsibility is not only to teach but facilitate learning as well as prepare for that particular facilitation,” he said.

He further said every learner should be catered for in all the facilities saying that teachers should also maximise their facilitation skills.

BOFINET chief engineer, Mr Ephraim Kedisang said their aim was to enhance learning through ICT in the sense that a student will have the curriculum in a gadget instead of carrying 10 books to school every morning.

Mr Kedisang said about 365 schools around Botswana had been connected to Internet by Mascom network and about 45 schools were connected to the Internet by BOFINET making an Internet utilisation of about 70 per cent by the schools.

He further explained that they did not only connect Internet in schools but also offered technical assistance to the connected schools.

For his part, BOSETU vice secretary Mr Innocent Mannathoko encouraged stakeholders to work hard to change the education system since education was a lifelong programme that had to go a long way.

“We need to have teacher and special needs training from the first level to the last level. We need to change our attitude towards the education system as the public,” he said.

Mr Mannathoko noted that students in private schools performed better than those in public schools as parents for the former were more committed to assist their children to get value for their tuition fares.

In his closing remarks, Assistant Minister for Basic Education Mr Moiseraela Goya commended all stakeholders who took part in the two-day pitso.

Mr Goya said the pitso was destined to reflect, analyse and find solutions to issues of education in Botswana and promote best way practices for now and the future.

“The challenges of Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) are that it is not a whole solution but has potential to address challenges in the education system,” he said.

The assistant minister encouraged stakeholders to make use of the resolutions to up their game in terms of ETSSP adding that all education challenges had been addressed in the document.

He however said the deliberation may not bring desired results but have identified strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. ENDS