06 Dec 2021

Botswana Scout Association has been applauded for its contribution in moulding young people to shun violence. 

 Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Ms Anna Mokgethi praised the association when officiating at the launch of its Reset on Character Building and Discipline in Children in Dikwididi yesterday.

Ms Mokgethi said the association had a track record of being instrumental in shaping the behaviour of young people to be able to differentiate between wrong and right.

She emphasised the need to court young people at a tender age in order to instill discipline in them which she said would lower gender-based violence (GBV) incidence in Botswana.

“If we had taught young people about GBV in the past 30 years, there would be no abusers today because these abusers were school going children then,” she stressed.

Minister Mokgethi said the initiative to start teaching young people on morality and respect for others would produce good future leaders.

Another speaker, Kgosi Mosadi Seboko of Balete described the reset programme on character building as a positive initiative in fighting  deteriorating morality.

‘Catching them young’ would make children responsible citizens of tomorrow, she said.

Kgosi Mosadi appealed to government to capacitate parents and teacher associations on issues of instilling discipline.

“If we train PTAs, they can train parents in the proper upbringing of children,” she stated.

MP for Mochudi East, Mr Mabuse Pule appealed to the association to extend its character building and discipline interventions to all schools.

He further called for collaboration between the association and other codes with similar endeavours and share best experiences.

Chief scout, Mr Ezekiel Mulenya said to fight moral decay, it was crucial for  all young people to be taught love, care and respect for each other.

The movement, he said, had a track record of changing leaners’ character and academic performance citing Macha College in Kang which moved from position 34 to four.

“We intend to spread our initiatives throughout the country as we embrace His Excellency the President’s reset agenda,” he said.

Part of the association’s activities is training scout leaders in different cadres using a value-based system in different areas of interest.

“These values are imbued into the scouts as they grow in scouting through different scouting levels,” he said. BOPA