23 Jul 2019

Teachers have been applauded for not allowing the inadequacy of resources to interfere with their work.

The commendation came from Acting President Mr Slumber Tsogwane when officially opening the national primary school heads conference in Gaborone yesterday.

Mr Tsogwane said government appreciated the continued commitment and dedication of primary school teachers as they strove to do more with less.

“As government we have seen the continued improvement in the performance of learners at the PSLE year on year, and I encourage you to aim much higher,” he said.

He said primary school heads needed to be acknowledged for guiding and supporting teachers and learners to focus on important educational matters.

Government, he said, would supplement their efforts to improve primary school learning.

The Acting President said efforts were  ongoing to ensure improvement of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results and enhancement of the learning environment in primary schools countrywide.

“One of our key priorities as government is to scale up our efforts in implementing the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP), a crucial transformation tool that will help us diversify the economy and address issues on unemployment.  The ETTSSP highlights the importance of not only primary education but pre-primary education in the development of a child,” Mr Tsogwane said.

Saying a sound educational foundation was fundamental to the realization of a knowledge driven society, Mr Tsogwane stressed that  government wanted to produce quality learners.

He said school leadership remained crucial to the provision of quality education and called on them to cultivate a culture of excellence and accountability in schools.

The Acting President said ongoing educational reforms would lead to an outcomes based education which encouraged pupils to be innovative.

For his part, Minister of Basic Education, Mr Bagalatia Arone described the conference as an important part of the education calendar which affords participants the opportunity to discuss pertinent issues.

He said his ministry sought to improve the teaching environment in schools citing a recent benchmarking mission to Zimbabwe, which had maintained an enviable education system despite economic challenges.

“We will do whatever it takes to produce the best results,” Mr Arone said.

He lauded school heads whose schools performed well despite limited resources, particularly in remote areas.

Such schools, he said, should serve as an encouragement for the more resourced schools to make optimum use of resources at their disposal. ENDS