20 Sep 2022

Botswana has been hailed for adopting brilliant initiatives such as the Outcome Based Education (OBE), to advance and enhance the education system.

A member of the Southern Africa Association for Educational Assessment (SAAEA) Executive Committee (EXCO) from South Africa, Dr Mafu Rakometsi said such initiatives were aimed to deliver independent and 21st century responsive learners.

Another initiative he said he was impressed with was the Adopt-a-School, which aimed to facilitate private sector and the community participation in the delivery of quality education.

Giving the remarks during the SAAEA EXCO meeting in Maun recently, Dr Rakometsi said the initiatives were a welcome development as they could help to produce competitive learners and enable efficiency and effectiveness in delivering quality education.

He urged SAAEA EXCO members to work as a unit and support each other, adding that every member state should execute assignments diligently and take stewardship seriously.

No examination body, he said, should be seen monopolising the space, but promote the spirit of cooperation and not competition so that they could benchmark from each other.

Earlier on, North West regional education director, Ms Veronica Mochotlhi informed the meeting that Botswana was now in transit to a knowledge-based economy.

In order to achieve that, she said the Ministry of Education remained a critical player and catalyst for the transformation.

“We have a critical role in educating and training citizens who in turn contribute to the growth of our economy,” she added.

Ms Mochotlhi also noted that the ministry had developed an Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) because of the consciousness of the complexity of the issues surrounding education.

The plan, she said, was aimed at facilitating the attainment of improved learning outcomes by addressing issues of access, equity, quality, relevance and accountability across the entire sector.

Ms Mochotlhi also revealed that since January last year, Maun Senior Secondary School pioneered new pre-vocational subjects; Hospitality and Tourism studies.

The meeting also learnt that stakeholders should continuously engage in research for the development of up to date policies and interventions in the education systems.

Ms Mochotlhi appreciated the EXCO meeting, saying it was motivating that the forum was alive to that need.

She also shared that the success in the ministry was supported by continued and highly valued input from their primary partners and stakeholders in education.

The private sector in tourism operations, she said not only create employment to the local communities, but have contributed through their social responsibilities by providing education infrastructure such as building of classrooms, as well as adopting schools and engaging in academic programmes.

Ms Mochotlhi also emphasised the need to build more resilience within all education sectors so that it may withstand current and future disasters such as COVID-19 by ensuring uninterrupted business. Ends