26 Aug 2018

Lefika Matlho of St Joseph’s College on August 24 received the Golden Award from President Mokgweetsi Masisi after becoming the best BGCSE student, beating over 37 000 students who wrote the examination in 2017.

For his efforts, he received P20 000 prize money and a trophy.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, the President said government would never desert the Top Archievers, but would walk with them in their journey and even ensure they had jobs upon graduation.

President Masisi said the award was given to an outstanding student adding it came with significant responsibilities.

He said although the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) Excellence Awards were designed to recognise and reward the young top achievers, they also provided a platform to address students, parents, guardians, teachers, government officials, the private sector as well as well-wishers all at the same time.

The BEC Awards were awarded to 37 students who excelled at PSLE, Junior Certificate and BGCSE including two learners with special needs. The President said he was heartened by the slight improvement in performance at the three levels from primary through to senior secondary schools in 2017.

“Behind their success are supportive families and innovative teachers who commit significant amount of time to assist them to plan their studies,” he said.

He said if teachers could continue to give the same level of support to weaker students and parents played their role, poor performance would be a thing of the past.

President Masisi said the awards assisted to motivate learners to aim high.

“The testimonies of the recipients at BGCSE level show how students use experiences of past recipients to plan their studies.

 I am informed that the BEC produces a magazine that is widely circulated across schools which contains such experiences,” he said.

President Masisi said the role of BEC in the assessment of general education curriculum was well-understood and must continue.

“The assessments they conduct do not only help in determining the effectiveness of curriculum implementation, but also what the students have achieved as they proceed from one level to the other. This is what educational assessors will call assessment of learning,” he said.He said he expected to see the council playing an even bigger role in the area of assessment for learning, which aimed to support students in their learning.

“My government would like to see BEC conducting high quality research, either individually or through partnering with national, regional and international organisations, which feeds directly into policy development,” he said.

The President said research undertaken by the national assessment authority must assist in resolving system-wide challenges in order to improve the quality of learning in the schools.

“Findings from the examination results must also be analysed and used to provide feedback into the system to improve the learning process,” he said.

He said it was critical and urgent that the council broaden its assessment and moderation mandate to include additional areas that were articulated in the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan such as Out Of School Education, Early Childhood Education and Care and Pre-Tertiary Technical and Vocational Education as well as training.

The council he said must direct assessment in schools to ensure teachers targeted 21st century skills as opposed to oncentration on content.“These are the skills that can help propel Botswana to a high income status country as espoused in the National Vision 2036 document,” he said. ENDS