20 Jun 2018

A country without an educated populace limits itself in reaching its full potential, says former President Dr Festus Mogae.

Speaking on a pre-recorded video message  during the Barclays F.G. Mogae Scholarship re-launch,  he said education was an important tool in the development and growth of a country.

Quoting the education policy data centre, Dr Mogae said gross enrollment in primary education in Botswana stood at 106 per cent for both girls and boys combined.

Dr Mogae said the figure decreased to 90 per cent in lower secondary with a student transition rate to secondary school of 97 per cent.

Quoting another institution, Statistics Botswana, Dr Mogae said the tertiary education gross enrollment rate of age ranging from 18 to 24 years for the year 2013 was just 20.2 per cent.

He said much remained to be desired in terms of the uptake and participation in tertiary education while funding was also a challenge.

“Through this fund, we are doing everything possible to make a difference in the lives of Batswana by alleviating the challenge of financing education,” he said.

Dr Mogae said in the 10 years he had served as the fund’s patron, he had the opportunity to interview some of the previous recipients, “who I am informed that upon completion of the programme, have gone on to make a great impact on the economy, their families and in their communities at large,” he said.

He said this year’s scholarship fund was the most exceptional with P3 million pledged towards the fund and had been expanded to include both under and post graduates with an expected enrollment of 40 new recipients this year.

Dr Mogae revealed noted that they were partnering University of Botswana (UB), Botswana Accountancy College (BAC), Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) and  Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN).

He applauded Barclays Bank of Botswana for recognising the need to support the nation’s education and skills development well into the future.

Dr Mogae said this was about recognising an opportunity unveiled to help the youth to build a brighter and more prosperous future for themselves, their community and greater nation.

He urged the youth to continue exhibiting the same dedication and determination to take new strides towards realising their dreams as they would have a substantial impact on the country’s economy.

For his part, Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology Mr Ngaka Ngaka said the ministry and Botswana education sector had done some notable developments as part of NDP 11 mandate.

He said the country had taken major steps to invest in education and skills development of Botswana citing the more than 25 per cent of the total government budget allocated to the education sector over the past two decades.

These investments, he said were made to improve human capital development, the quality of education and the quality of skills needed to improve the national economy.

Barclays Bank Managing Director Reinette van der Merwe said the bank made the decision to present this gift to Dr Mogae because of his dedication to issues that continued to affect Batswana including HIV/AIDS and poverty.

She said the bank remained committed to the socio-economic development of the community through education and skills development.

In 2017, she said, Barclays Bank Group Limited announced an increase to the charitable CEO Fund to P210 million for the furthering of education in Africa.

Ms Reinette said 3 000 universities across all 10 Barclays Africa markets including Botswana stand a chance to benefit from the prestigious scholarship fund for the current academic year. ENDS