08 Aug 2013

A senior lecturer at the University of Botswana, Dr Agreement Jotia has pleaded with the general society to engage in meaningful social dialogue in order for democracy in the country to be vibrant.

Giving a keynote address Botswana Secondary Teachers Union  (BOSETU) special congress in Francistown  August 6, Dr Jotia  noted that democracy could only survive the test of time if citizens were practically involved in discussion of issues so as to pave way for rational decisions channelled towards benefiting the country or even the government of the day.

The special congress was held under the theme: Meaningful Social Dialogue: a remedy to challenges in the education sector.

Dr Jotia stressed that in order for a democracy to become vibrant, all citizens, both leaders and voters, should embark on social dialogue with humility and celebrate diversity of opinions.

He noted that democracy can only survive if nurtured by meaningful dialogue and the willingness to listen even to the voices of those that we do not seem to agree with.

“The greatest threats to society are the anti-democratic beliefs which subscribe to the notion that a democracy or the way of behaving in a democracy should be prescribed like pills,” he stressed.

He said teachers unions should determine the role they can play in a democracy as a way of trying to resolve challenges which were currently faced by education system.

He noted that teachers’ morale was at a devastating low level which was a danger to the process of teaching and learning and called for meaningful social dialogue to bridge the gaps and help revive their spirits.

“Within the democracy dance, no dancer can claim to be the one and only ordained dancer with extraordinary supernatural dancing skills,” he said.

He called on Batswana to promote democratic deliberative dialogue within their social discourse for purposes of creating a progressive and harmonious society. ENDS