06 Oct 2025

In an effort to combat the deteriorating state of schools infrastructure, the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education has launched a nationwide campaign dubbed #CountMeIn.

The campaign is aimed at restoring dilapidated classrooms in flood-affected schools, starting with the most urgent cases, being senior secondary classrooms.

Speaking during the launch on Friday, Minister Nono Kgafela-Mokoka said the idea was conceived in the wake of devastating floods that impacted schools like Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School.

However, the initiative was delayed due to resource constraints.

Acknowledging the ongoing challenges facing the education sector, Ms Kgafela-Mokoka called on communities, businesses, alumni, media and stakeholders to help restore and rehabilitate dilapidated classrooms worsened by damage caused by floods.

“We cannot keep crying, we cannot keep folding our arms, we need to start this initiative and make a plea to the community, businesses, alumni, and stakeholders to participate and help us quickly restore classrooms that are going to be used for examinations,” she said.

She said classrooms that would be used for examinations were in dire situation, as walls were spoilt with graffiti, broken windows, collapsing ceilings, and insufficient furniture, raising concerns about the validity of national examinations and the perception of Botswana’s education system locally and abroad.

Ms Kgafela-Mokoka said there was plan to designate weekends for community members, parents, teachers and local residents to come together and clean or repair school infrastructure.

The minister also encouraged maintenance and creativity, saying schools would be ranked based on restoration efforts and cleanliness and that winners would receive public recognition and possible rewards.

Meanwhile, Minsiter Kgafela-Mokoka reignited the vision with personal commitment by donating P20 000 to kick-start the campaign

To participate or make a pledge, she said individuals and organisations were encouraged to contact the ministry and follow updates using the #CountMeIn. 

She further pointed out that the ministry would introduce digital classroom tracker; a monitoring system to digitally track the condition of classrooms, allowing the ministry to identify problem areas in real time.

She therefore called on private sector partners to contribute financially or in-kind, saying in the past, partnerships had proven effective and directly impacted on the future of the children. ENDS