06 Nov 2019

Since the establishment of the Bridge Botswana Project in 2016, the Korean and Botswana National Commissions for UNESCO have been working closely to provide better access, equity and quality education for out of school learners and their communities. 

When giving a keynote address during the official hand over of a classroom block with ablutions and play area in Mmaothate on Tuesday, the Assistant Secretary-General of Korea National Commission for UNESCO Ms Mia Shin said they were happy with the completion of the project as it would benefit many. 

She said the Korean Commission for UNESCO launched the Bridge Africa Programme in 2010 as a way of returning the support they had received from the international community during hard times in South Korea. 

Ms Mia said the programme aimed to expand educational opportunities for educationally marginalised people in remote areas through cooperation between National Commissions for UNESCO in Sub Saharan Africa. 

She further said they have involved eight partner countries to date including Botswana, as well as Rwanda, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

Ms Mia said according to UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, 258 million children, adolescents and youth were out of school in 2018.  She said the opening of Mmaothate community learning centre would have an impact in the lives of the people with hope that it would be a model of more learning centres in Botswana and other countries. 

“It seems small but, I believe that this centre can affect as big as that of a butterfly that flaps its wings leading to a big hurricane on the other side of the world,” she said.

Ms Mia expressed hope that the local community would be actively engaged in the operation of the centre.  She added that the construction of the centre had been made possible by the contribution from the Korean soprano artist Sumi-Jo, a UNESCO Peace Artist who greatly helped with donations from her music concert. 

The chairperson of Botswana National Commission for UNESCO Kgosi Puso Gaborone expressed gratitude for the Bridge Africa project which had made it possible for the construction of Mmaothate community learning centre. 

He said international support to help fund a project of this nature was a sign that they cared about the communities they do not even associate which was driven by love. 

He said it was now their responsibility to make sure the project continued to bear fruits through learning and should be used for what it had been constructed for. 

Kgosi Gaborone said education played a pivotal role in the economic development of any country adding that the delivery of the project was in line with President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s initiative to build a knowledge-based economy. 

When giving testimony, the learning centre head Ms Moroba Ntheetsang said she was grateful that at last the community have a learning centre and it would be beneficial for them to acquire educational skills. 

She said the journey to where they were had not been easy as there were many children who do not go to school. She said she volunteered to be their teacher since 2011 starting with a small group that had grown over the years and now the number was over a hundred. 

Ms Ntheetsang said in 2014 she established a centre where all the children could converge to learn together and also be moulded to be better citizens.  She said transport remained a challenge for them to collect children as they were sparingly distributed around the community. 

When giving closing remarks, Kweneng District Commissioner Ms Bernice Mosime said construction of the community learning centre helped bridge the gap in infrastructure development at the same time helping the government meet its goals through public and private partnerships. 

Ms Mosime thanked the Korean National Commission for UNESCO for the support they have shown and the delivery of the learning centre which will change the lives of people for good. BOPA