09 Nov 2020

Botswana has adopted an outcome based approach to education to facilitate the introduction of multiple pathways starting in 2021 at senior secondary schools.

 Delivering the State-of-the-Nation Address on November 9, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi the approach was meant to enable pupils to pursue subjects of their interest and capability in order to improve the country’s educational system.

He said over the last two years, there had been a rapid implementation of reform programmes under the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan-ETSSP with a view to promote a competence or skilled based curriculum and as such 38 subjects had been reviewed and developed.

He said Maun Senior Secondary School had been selected for Tourism and Hospitality while Moeng College was identified for Horticulture, Crop and Animal Production.

The president explained that the construction of facilities to prepare schools for pathways had already commenced, adding that assessment programmes aligned to the new curriculum were being developed and were expected to be completed by 2023.

Furthermore, he highlighted that syllabus development would commence from October 2020 to March 2022 for Junior schools and from November 2022 to April 2024 for primary schools while for pre-primary it would be November 2024 to April 2026.

He also noted that a Draft National Policy on Assessment for General Education as well as the Technical and Vocational Education and Training-TVET had been completed and would guide examinations and assessments in the context of outcome based economy. He said the Botswana Teaching Professionals Council had been established to professionalise the teaching cadre and restore dignity of the profession.

In response to COVID-19 in schools, the President said to counter the spread and transmission of the virus in institutions of learning, government had ramped up efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Amongst the measures put in place, he said classes had been reduced to a maximum of thirty learners as well as introduced shifts in schools and engaged three thousand temporary teachers to accommodate the increase in the number of classes and the employment of Safety Health and Environment-SHE officers to ensure compliance with safety protocols.

He explained that to date, all public and private schools had adhered to the dictates of the COVID-19 safety protocols, saying the low numbers of actual cases across schools was a testament to the commitment by the country’s educators to keep the schools and children safe. Ends