06 Jun 2021

This year’s National Teachers Day saw 174 educators from across the country honoured with each walking away with a certificate, medal and P3 000.
 The cohort included the 2020 recipients who could not be honoured last year due to COVID-19.
 Award categories were long and distinguished service, meritorious, silver jubilee and mid-career.
 Speaking during the event in Gaborone on Friday, Minister of Basic Education Mr Fidelis Molaohe said history had been made as it was the first time a virtual event of that nature was held
“We managed to reach out to all of our regions and sub-regions and had the opportunity to live stream on Youtube for all teachers across the country to observe,” he said.
Mr Molao said having not held the event in 2020 due to COVID-19 and faced with the possibility of a repeat this year, the ministry and teachers’ representatives worked hard to make it a reality.
He said it was that kind of teamwork which would propel the ministry forward in transforming education in Botswana.
“May this spirit continue, lets walk together side by side in unison, may we talk to each other more and less at each other, our duty and mission is one,” he said.
 Minister Molao implored teachers to reflect on their achievements as they celebrated their day and to continue improving on the important work of raising future generations.
He also advised all to be vigilant in the face of COVID-19 which continued to disrupt daily lives and take loved ones.
For his part, Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) president, Mr Gotlamang Oitsile explained that the event was for stakeholders in teaching and learning to appreciate and celebrate the unique role teachers played in the development of the human person.
Its other aim was for stakeholders to reflect on the status and situations of teachers, he said.
Mr Oitsile said this year’s theme, ‘The teacher, key to education, health and prosperity in the new normal’, exhorted them to reflect on the general status of teachers.
The teachers’ role was not only to impart knowledge and skills to learners but to develop the nation’s human capital, the single most important resource in a country’s development, said Mr Oitsile.
Beyond that, he said, teachers helped mould children into good citizens adding that successful nations were those that managed to develop their children into globally competitive human capital.
“It is therefore vital on how well we invest in teachers’ development and how well we invest in their conditions of service and the preparation of learners for learning,” he said.
Among challenges, Mr Oitsile mentioned inadequate school infrastructure and teaching resources, obsolete equipment and poor remuneration as well as insufficient recognition.
“Close to 80 per cent of our teachers are stuck at the top notch of the C1 band,” Mr Oitsile said.
He appealed for adequate investment  in the development and welfare of teachers.
“Smart investment in teachers is investment in children, the future and national prosperity,” he said. ends