01 Dec 2025

The Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education in Francistown held a five-day training on basic sign language for its officers in different sections for the purpose of inclusivity.

Speaking at the end of the workshop, Chief Education Officer, Ms Kedisaletse Tshukudu said the initiative came about after the realisation that a substantial number of customers and clients who visited the ministry were deaf.

Also, Ms Tshukudu relayed that the Francistown region had two schools that have learners with deafness as well as staff members who were suffering the same. 

She said the initiative was aimed at embracing people with deafness so that they too could benefit from the services provided by the ministry without any difficulty. 

The region’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Mr Keane Tebele, said the training attracted 15 officers from different departments within the ministry.

He said as one of the ministries with a huge number of people with disabilities, especially the deaf, who throng to seek services, it was important to hold the training.

Mr Tebele explained that the training was interactive initiative, which the officers enjoyed.

He explained that the expectation was for the graduates to take the newly acquired skills to the community, shops, and schools to make communication with the deaf effectual.

One of the participants, Ms Mishingo Botsoma, who is a switchboard operator, said the training would help her communicate effectively and easily, as a frontline officer, with her customers.

She explained that she received many such customers on a daily basis and that the training was a welcome development in her work.

The rigorous training was held in partnership with the Botswana Society for the Deaf as well as  the Centre for the Deaf Education Schools. ENDS