24 Mar 2021

Education remains key to enhancing the quality of life for many Batswana, mayor of Francistown, Mr Godisang Radisigo said when addressing a full council session recently.

He said although government prioritised basic education spending in an effort to improve quality education, COVID-19 had caused further challenges in the sector, and that more resources were needed to ensure the sector produced better outcomes amidst prevailing challenges.

Mr Radisigo said as a result of COVID-19, schools had to reduce the number of learners from 40 to 30 per class in order to ensure compliance to health protocols, thus putting further stress on the limited resources.

He said as a response to shortage of furniture in schools caused by COVID-19 compliance, the city council had embarked on modifying and repairing old tables and chairs since December last year.

He noted that to date, 18 out of 20 primary schools in Francistown had repaired learner’s furniture, and that pupils did not share tables unlike before, adding that it has reduced the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

The mayor applauded schools in Francistown area for doing well in national examinations, noting that in the last Primary School Leaving Examinations, the North East region, which includes Francistown, obtained position one with 82.7 per cent pass.

On other issues, he said the city needed to showcase its capacity to generate export led growth through promotion of competiveness in local businesses and acceleration of economic diversification and attracting foreign investment.

On investments, he said the city was working to attract businesses and improve the city’s attractiveness for investment. He added that the efforts had been boosted by the setting up of the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) office in Francistown.

He said BITC played an active role in facilitating and helping resolve some of the business challenges faced by local investors.

 

“In response to the current economic meltdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, BITC has adopted a new strategy which will now put more emphasis on domestic investment promotion as opposed to foreign direct investment,” he said. BOPA