19 Mar 2018

President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama has commended the Lions club family for demonstrating commitment towards the development of the community by providing Letoreng with basic education facilities.

He said government alone could not do everything, saying it was encouraging to see the private sector taking interest in educational issues.

President Khama was speaking at the official opening of Letoreng Primary School in Letoreng yesterday.

The block, which provides new facilities and improved learning environment, was donated by Lions Club at the total cost of P1.7 million.

President Khama said that their contribution was an indication of their partnership with government and commitment to providing quality basic education.

He said one of the pillars of Vision 2036, which emphasised on human and social development, provided that access to quality, compulsory education would be aligned to the needs of the economy, which would enable Batswana to be globally competitive.

He encouraged Letoreng residents to ensure full utilisation and due care to the facility and acquire basic education, which would ultimately support Vision 2036 as well as propel the nation to another level of development.

He said as an emerging economy Botswana had embraced education, especially universal access to primary education given that at least 96 per cent had been achieved in this respect.

“To this end, our focus should be on identifying the remaining four per cent to ensure that all Batswana of school-going age were in school”, he said.

President Khama said Government had taken deliberate measures to ensure access to basic education through collaborative efforts of the Ministries of Basic Education and that of Local Government and Rural Development through provision of basic infrastructure and excellent curricula.

He said underpinning this collaboration had been the development of Early Childhood Development Framework, which serves to nurture children from the early years of their learning trajectory.  

He indicated that the opening of the school addressed issues at that core of the future of the country, education of the youth.

He said, ‘it speaks to issues that highlight the need to cascade education in the country to the second Long Term Vision 2036, ‘prosperity for all’. President Khama said education gives you that opportunity to go out and discover one’s capabilities to be all you can be.”

The school, he said, would continue to be assisted with services until it becomes a full-fledged primary school in its own right. President Khama said, for now it would effectively reduce the travelling distance, which some learners travelled daily to access education.

The Minister of Health and wellness, Ms Dorcus Makgato thanked Lions Club for the donation.She said that Letoreng residents were determined to help where they could to make sure that the construction of the school was completed on time.

She however said that the private sector, civil society and the community including individuals and the government could work together in commonality.  

She said that often people were told that government was bureaucratic but that was not the case.

She said that the ministry of Basic Education and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development had to be creative and find how the teachers could be accommodated because there was no accommodation for teachers in Letoreng and there was no money for the construction of houses for teachers.

Ms Makgato said that the amount of money that was used to build the first phase of the school was P1.7 million and the intention is to finish the entire school within a budget of P4.2 million.

Kgosi Lekang Koboto thanked Lions Club for donating a primary school towards his village.

He said children would now attend school in the village rather than walking 16km daily to get to school. ENDS