08 Oct 2017

With the world increasingly becoming interconnected and complex, the need to develop leaners who can function in such an environment  has also increased.

This was said by Marang Junior Secondary School head, Mr Keoletile Mmopi at the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) programme launch at Avani recently.

GLOBE, he said was an international environmental science and education programme that brought students, teachers and scientists together to study global environment. Mr Mmopi said GLOBE had created an international network of students at primary, middle and secondary school levels studying environmental issues and sharing environmental data with one another and the international Science community.

He noted that the launch was aimed at lobbying government to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with GLOBE for the country to continue benefiting from the programme.

 “At Marang school, we believe learning should not only be confined to the classroom,” he added. Mr Mmopi said GLOBE idea was a noble programme intended to assist learners to function meaningfully in the global environment

He said students should apply whatever they learnt from class to make life easier outside. Mr Mmopi identified problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and analytical skills as a range of skills students needed to survive in today’s world.

He said students should be involved in quality after school programmes where they would apply the knowledge gained from classroom to everyday life activities.

For his pasrt, Professor Julius Atlhopheng from University of Botswana said research was an essential tool to emerging global, regional and local challenges. He said research built knowledge and made innovation possible. “Mankind has been trying to do things by observation through the naked eye but with time we realised that naked eye was not able to give absolute answers,” he said. Professor Atlhopheng said because the human eye had limitations and was unreliable, that gave birth to the invention of instruments. ENDS