18 Feb 2020

Ramotswa Member of Parliament says it is critical to evaluate curriculum in schools as government prioritises the development of human capital towards a knowledge-based economy.

Debating the budget speech on Monday, Mr Lefoko Moagi argued that government’s commitment to addressing issues of education performance was evident, hence the need to overhaul the curriculum in primary and secondary education.

Mr Moagi, who is also Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, said the curriculum should be updated with subjects pertinent to today and the future such as finance, financial engineering, financial technology, data sciences, coding and programming.

“In the era of the fourth industrial revolution whose wave we are thriving to catch, these subjects are at the core of industries across many and major economies ranging from health, financial services, manufacturing and mining,” stated Mr Moagi.

The Ramotswa legislator said a knowledge-based economy could only thrive if it was underpinned by relevant skills that were competitive both domestically and at the global scale.

Mr Moagi said young people today wanted to code and preferred e-learning and digitised platforms.

“The World Economic Global Competitiveness 2019 report depicts Botswana at 46 per cent for ICT adoption, 57 per cent for skills, 54 per cent for business dynamics and 31 per cent for innovation compared to the upper 70s in countries like Seychelles and Singapore,” he said, adding that was the platform that required a re-look into the education curriculum with a view to enable more vocational, entrepreneurship, artistic and ICT related courses.

He said a stream in that line must be piloted in schools if not instituted across schools to gauge the level of uptake, and that school projects could become potential start-ups with tertiary institutions nurturing the incubations for fruition.

“However, all these are achievable with a radical mind shift of discipline,” he said.

Allocation for education, he said, was a fair share, however, he argued that the challenge was appropriate deployment and usage.

Mr Moagi added that fourth generational skills and the knowledge-based economy should not only reflect on the welfare, but also on teaching materials and aides.

He also said teaching should not be taken as a last resort, but rather be a revered and respected profession that was attractive.

He said Botswana Teaching Council should professionalise the education enterprise and put Botswana ahead of other first world countries.

Mr Moagi also noted that the principle of discipline to adhere to requirements at institutions could improve results in schools.

He said close to discipline was maintaining institutions, adding that the dilapidation of schools as a result of a carefree environment of not pruning trees, gardens and poor maintenance of infrastructure led to below par results.

On other issues, Mr Moagi argued that time was nigh to effect the citizen economic empowerment law. He said the successful privatisation of Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) was a historic milestone for the country and its citizens.

He said BTCL had contributed significantly to citizen economic empowerment and financial inclusion owing to the efficient approach of privatisation as a public listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).

He said government should leverage on such an experience and refocus interventions in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

He called for a deliberate medium and long-term strategic view to privatise the majority of SOEs, especially Botswana Power Corporation by floating them onto the BSE.

In addition, Mr Moagi implored the Ministry of Health and Wellness to explore the use of technology such as drones to supply drugs and medicines to remote areas.

Such, he argued, could be private sector-led by youth companies.

On Bamalete Lutheran Hospital in his constituency, Mr Moagi argued that concluding a Memorandum of Agreement with government for technical assistance would see critical care equipment like dialysis machines, ENT, x-ray and CT scans being provided.

That, he said, would go a long way in alleviating the below par state of good health and wellness as well as decongest referral hospitals such as Princess Marina.

He further said government should explore the use of private medical practitioners in various towns and villages who could be paid for their time to relief long queues at hospitals and theatres at an agreed rate.

He said that would ensure service provision rather than seeking to build more structures.

On the other hand, the MP for Maun East, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile said the budget speech failed to address corruption issues which he argued still existed and has led to stagnant economic growth.

He also said the speech did not address how it would improve SOEs performance, but rather planned on establishing more.

On education, he said the pupil-teacher ratio needed to be addressed urgently.

“It should be lowered. There is need to build more classrooms and hire more teachers who are on the streets.

This is the only way that results and performance can improve in schools,” he said. ENDS