04 Jun 2020

President, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has urged teachers to embrace Information Communication Technology (ICT).

In his national Teachers’ Day commemoration message, President Masisi said ICT provided opportunities for e-learning using different, exiting platforms, advising teachers to embrace the Forth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

President Masisi said during such times as the COVID-19 pandemic, e-learning would have been handy in delivering lessons to learners, adding that ICT was also crucial in disseminating COVID-19 information.

This year’s teacher’s day is celebrated under the theme: The Teacher; Key to Education, Health and Prosperity in the New Normal. 

In this regard, President Masisi  said  COVID-19 had made government to see the need to introspect find new ways of doing things such as identify methods of delivering education to ensure the realisation of the aspirations of the National Vision 2036 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on Quality Education.   

Under the new normal, he said teachers would be innovative and flexible, applying themselves to ensure that curriculum delivery and syllabus coverage was completed in the most efficient and effective manner. “Measures such as e-learning, flip school, the double shift model and flexi lesson schedules should be explored to provide the best learning platforms and environment for our children,” he said.

Furthermore, President Masisi acknowledged teachers’ dedication and selfless service to the education sector, despite resource challenges.

This, he attributed to having the Botswana’s highest literacy rates, not just in Africa, but across the world, which he said was at over 86 per cent for people aged 15 years and older, according to UNESCO’s latest statistics.

President Masisi further reiterated government’s commitment to substantially improve human capital skills and knowledge in the education sector, adding that more measures would be taken to reform the entire education sector, ‘as part of my Transformation Agenda’.

“Government will also continue to work and engage with teachers’ representatives with a view to seek better and sustainable ways to improve teachers’ welfare status,” he stated.   

Meanwhile, President Masisi called for more collaborations among education stakeholders, especially the parents, which he said were necessary for bridging the gaps created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, during this year’s Teachers’ Day, teachers will not be able to gather and celebrate due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Ends