10 Apr 2020

Minister of Basic Education, Mr Fidelis Molao, says government will go an extra mile to recover time lost in this year's academic calendar.

In a press briefing conducted via Skype this afternoon, Mr Molao said his ministry was in consultation with stakeholders to deal with impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the ministry was rolling out remote learning through online classes. He said the exercise was a challenge to those who had no access to the internet.

Minister Molao said the ministry had ramped up television and radio lessons to assist in the process of distant learning. They were also in talks with network providers.

He said over 500 000 learners had enrolled under his ministry and only 20 805 were assisted with gadgets.

He noted that according to the Education Act, a pupil was eligible to be examined after being taught for 180 days. Following the coronavirus outbreak, Mr Molao said about 13 school days had been lost and if the number of such days could reach 60, examiners would consider that pupils retake their academic year.

He said, even though state of emergency regulations declared schools to be closed for six months, government could open schools through advice from health officials. He said there was a possibility of re-arranging the academic calendar and provide remedial lessons.

He said concerning subjects such as agriculture that had projects, which needed moderation, the Botswana Examination Council had alternative papers to cushion moderation.

For his part, director of health services, Dr Malaki Tshipayagae, said the health ministry was about to do full throttle testing where 3 000 specimen would be done daily. Currently the testing capacity of labs was 1 000 specimen daily.

He said Block 8 clinic in Gaborone was initially considered an isolation centre, but the centre of isolation was then moved to Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital.

Dr Tshipayagae said a nurse who tested positive for COVID-19 was part of frontline workers at the clinic and underwent routine testing.

He expressed concern for those who went against extreme social distancing measures. He encouraged Batswana to follow self isolation measures to stay safe. Ends