05 Aug 2018

Minister of Basic Education Mr Bagalatia Arone says government is on the journey to transform the country into a knowledge based economy.

Officially Opening BOSETU Policy Conference held in Palapye recently, Mr Arone said President Mokgweetsi Masisi had directed that apart from official advisors and technocrats in ministries, each and every ministry should set up an independent body of advisors to help on issues pertaining to their respective ministries.

“We have already started assembling such teams which are representative of the citizens of this country,” he said.

He further said President Masisi directed ministers to ensure that their communication or consultation processes were cast as wide as possible because governance was about representing the views of the nation.

“This alone shows a commitment of a president who wants to match with the nation in taking this country forward,” he said.

Mr Arone, who is also MP for Okavango said his ministry had started the journey together with unions to transform the economy into a knowledge based economy.

He assured BOSETU that his ministry was committed to promoting dialogue between government and unions, hence the saying “Ntwa Kgolo ke ya molomo.”

He added that this government was “voted in by Batswana not through court orders” hence the need for the two parties to discuss issues pertaining to education harmoniously.

The minister said most challenges in his ministry were as a result of having many opinion leaders outside the ministry influencing what should be done in the ministry. “We are going to strengthen our consultation processes so that we are representative of everybody,” he added.

“Unions worldwide are known for complaining about policies set by others, therefore for BOSETU to have taken a decision to organise a policy conference is a step in the right direction,” he said adding that it was an indication that he would be dealing with a union that understood its role.

He informed them that he would like the resolutions taken in the conference to reach the government table for further discussion.

Minister Arone noted there was need for evidence based decision making, as there were a number of challenges in the ministry that needed research approach.

“We cannot go on to use our emotions and term them policy decisions. We want decisions that take cognizance of the present situation and the future,” he said.

He however raised a concern that most issues in his ministry were administrative and not dealing with policy, citing transfer issues, which he said there was a transfer policy in place that was not being implemented.

Touching on progression issues, he said many teachers were stuck in C band and there were no answers as to why those teachers had not progressed.

To address this problem, Mr Arone said he had directed that people be taken where they belong, thus teachers overdue for D4 band be taken out of C band to the D4 band as a result opening 400 spaces for entry. He said it was dangerous to have qualified teachers roaming the streets.

On the teacher/student ratio, Mr Arone said the ministry had not done well in adhering to the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) which called for the student teacher ratio to be 1:30. He said currently teachers taught over 50 students.

He rhetorically asked how many teachers would be employed if the ministry was to adhere to the RNPE. He however noted that they had started reviewing a number of legislations that governed the teaching fraternity to help address issues affecting teachers, citing the issue of applying for leave days during school holidays. He said it was unfair for teachers to be on duty during school holidays while they are not allowed to apply for leave during school days. Ends