10 Aug 2022

Government has been requested to consider students' diverse backgrounds when adopting national and international commitments to transform education..

During their deliberations before the United Nations Transforming Education Summit in Mochudi on Monday, stakeholders said transformation measures should focus on  providing solutions to problems.

One participant, Kgatleng Brigade principal, Mr Paul Mosimanegape said that the country’s education was purely academic and produced graduates that were not ready for job market.

“We need a serious paradigm shift in education in order to meet Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.

He regretted that the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) had promising aspirations of working towards bringing a more diversified, knowledge-based economy, but such was not fully realised.

Mr Mosimanegape said the plan had good intentions to transform the education sector, but the period 2015-2020 elapsed before its full potential came to fruition.

“We need education that ensured that education outputs are more closely aligned to future employment needs and technical and vocational training is therefore critical,” he stressed.

Head teacher at  Radikolo JSS, Ms Temeki Tselane was of the view that research or survey was critical to inform or guide the proposed outcomes of the summit.

Ms Tselane said education challenges varied from one institution to the other and needed a robust approach that covers the uniqueness of learning institutions in the country, while coordinator of Motswedi Rehabilitation Centre in Mochudi, Mr Kgosi Tlhowe argued that a meaningful transformation should consider participation of all segments of the society.

He said that Kgatleng provided special education with peculiar learning tools that should be prioritised. 

Head teacher of Lentswe JSS, Mr Phometsi Phometsi concurred with Mr Tlhowe that Kgatleng was a hub for special education as it housed different institutions catering for people living with disabilities.

Therefore, he said that the one-day meeting was not enough to reflect on transforming the education sector in Botswana.

Mr Phometsi suggested that the meeting required participation from  all valuable stakeholders, teachers, the private sector and parents.

Meanwhile, the Parents and Teacher Association chairperson of Seingwaeng Primary School, Mr Joseph Mechidi questioned the rationale used for inviting participants to the meeting, adding that following challenges that were presented by COVID-19 in the learning institutions, diverse participants were needed at the meeting.

Earlier on, Kgatleng District Education director, Mr Mothusi James briefed the summit that the national consultations were meant to dialogue with different stakeholders in the education sector, including the learners.

He stated that Botswana adopted the bottom-up approach in the education dialogues across the country to ensure primary stakeholders in education were taken on board.

“United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has tasked countries to consult broadly to ensure education remains relevant against the current challenges in the country and the world at large,” he said.

To this end, he also stated that the ETSSP strived to create a balance between academic pursuits and technical and vocational education by stressing multiple pathways that the country continued to implement beyond the 2020 strategy timeline.

Mr James informed participants that the report from the outcome of the meeting would be compiled together with those from other districts to be presented at the Transforming Education Summit that would take place in September 2022 in New York.

The summit seeks to provide an opportunity to mobilise greater political ambition, commitment and action to reverse the slide on SDG 4 - reimagine education, and accelerate progress on education and the 2030 Agenda more broadly for the remainder of the Decade of Action.

Mr James presented four thematic areas that should be discussed including Transforming Education (medium and long term), Review of the National Education Targets and Benchmarks, Ensuring Sustainable Public Financing and Recovery from COVID 19.

He implored stakeholders to discuss measures that could be adopted to ensure recovery from COVID 19 and reflect on reforms that could improve the education sector, including digitalized learning.

Mr James said sustainable education financing should also be discussed as to whether the cost-sharing initiative paid off or needed some improvement. ends