09 Sep 2019

Education is essential to the country’s economic prosperity, the Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness has said.

Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe was speaking at Motsumi Junior Secondary School prize giving ceremony in Letlhakane on September 6.

He stated that countries with high literacy rates  were prosperous and citizens had a high per capita income, whilst in nations where literacy rate was low,  a number of people were still living below the poverty datum line.

Mr Lelatisitswe said the global challenge for education was not just about providing access, but also ensuring progress.

Governments, he said, were investing more on educating citizens in order to compete in the global work force.

He stated that employers were looking for new employees with knowledge and skills to flourish in the 21st century.

Mr Lelatisitswe said it was important to ensure that learners gained knowledge and skills that matched industry requirements.

The assistant minister encouraged pupils to work hard in their studies so that they could play an instrumental role in uplifting the economic status of their country.  

He cautioned them against doubting themselves due to their area of origin.

BOFINET representative, Mr Thatayotlhe Mogorosi, stated that education was the most powerful weapon that could be used to change the world.

He  said children in rural areas deserved quality education like those in urban centres

Most people, he said, believed that children in rural areas could not excel in their studies because of isolation from developments, however high performers and future leaders he said came from such areas.

He implored parents and employees in the area to work hard for the betterment of the children’s future, emphasizing that all children in Botswana deserved access to quality education.

Common factors that most schools faced, he said, were lack of resources, low parental involvement and discipline.

Mr Mogorosi stated that government’s dedication to quality education was clear, citing that over years government invested a lot to assist remote areas with good working conditions.

He noted that despite government’s dedication, it was their duty to support government and invest in children’s education.

The deputy school head Ms Galenthone Boima, said the school made a significant improvement of 13.1 per cent in the 2018 results, which she attributed to the support the school got from stakeholders.

The school, she said, provided a healthy and competitive environment to help learners grow in academics, sports and co-curricular activities.

Ms Boima said the costs of financing education were too high for government alone, and for this reason government introduced adopt a school initiative in order to get assistance from other stakeholders. Their school she said was unfortunately not adopted.

Ms Boima appealed for funding to purchase AD-ADMIN software for managing school data and furniture for the computer laboratory.

She said BOFINET had been sponsoring the school to the tune of P10 000 in the category of academics and had been running for three years.

Karowe Mine she said also sponsored the school for a period of three years and the sponsorship ended in 2018. ENDS