07 Mar 2023

Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe says the bulk of the budget for the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETTSP) will be funded under the recurrent budget, with the European Union offering technical  support.

Responding to a question in Parliament recently, Minister Letsholathebe explained that the ETTSP was a sector wide education reform premised on a number of programmes which together would transform the whole education sector.

“There are a number of programmes designed to support the reforms and these include the introduction of pre-primary education which is currently assisting 48 per cent of learners to access pre-primary education,” Dr Letsholathebe said.

He confirmed that learners had benefitted at all levels of such initiatives, adding however benefits would in some cases take time to reflect in performance outcomes.

The minister also admitted that there was a limit in enrolling all children in the reception class programme, adding the roll out was ongoing and relied on the availability of classroom space.

“The ministry is looking into ways to increase access including possible Public Private Partnership’s approaches in an effort to meet the 100 per cent target,” he said.

With regard to Francistown schools, the minister said only Ikhutseng, Moremogolo, Pelotswaana and Tagala schools had one class or 30 learners each, while reception class enrolment varied widely from 30 to 89 pupils in Mahupe Primary School.

He said construction of reception class block was in progress at Satellite Primary School while construction at Phatsimo Primary school is yet to resume.

Nonetheless, the minister dismissed of any shortage of brigades and technical colleges in Botswana saying each district had either a brigade or a technical college.

“It has to be known that within the scope  of brigades and  technical  colleges, there are currently 47  public institutions  delivering post-secondary education, comprising  of  32  brigades, eight  technical  colleges and  seven  satellite  Construction Industry  Trust  Fund(CITF)  institutions,” he said.

The enrolment rate for all brigades and technical colleges, he said stood at 10 659 against a total capacity of 15 050 which translated to 71 per cent by December last year thus not as low as posited.

Additionally, he said the recent advertisement for brigades and certificate offering technical colleges was released through the ministry’s Facebook page as one of the medium of communication popular amongst the youth.

He further said like the rest of the population, brigades and technical colleges students were affected by the high cost of living, hence were provided with meals, learning materials and accommodation where boarding facilities were available.

He  however stated  that the P300 allowance meant to assist students with acquiring basic needs such as toiletry was not enough and the ministry would consider an increase should funds permit.

Francistown West MP, Mr Ignatius Moswaane had requested for an update on progress made in the implementation of the ETTSP in schools. Mr Moswaane had also talked about shortage of brigades and technical colleges across the country. ENDS