TRAINING PLAN TO TRANSFORM EDUCATION The Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP)’s main ultimate mandate is to transform Botswana from a resource based economy to a knowledge based economy. Briefing members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi on the mandate and progress of the development of the strategy, education reforms secretary Ms Taboka Nkhwa said the strategic plan comes as a solution that will align the type of education rendered to students with that of the needs of the industry. Ms Nkhwa told members of the House that the strategy is also meant to provide the basis for identifying, prioritising and implementing critical areas of organizational and restructuring required within the sector in order to support improved service delivery. She said one priority initiative that the programme will implement is the introduction of pre – primary education which is already being piloted in 120 primary schools across the country which was started this year. She said the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, through the ETSSP, in 2012 also introduced a six weeks induction course for pre – standard one children as a way of familiarising children with the school environment before classes could begin. She revealed that pre – primary school courses have already been introduced and being offered at the Serowe College of Education. Ms Nkhwa said the strategies’ research has also shown that there is poor performance in a lot of schools in science based subjects such as Agriculture and Mathematics. This, she said, has resulted in the country lagging behind in having qualified personnel specialising in science - based careers, such as engineering and medicine. She said the implementation of the strategy intends to correct the situation by introducing compulsory remediation programmes for these subjects in schools. Ms Nkhwa advised dikgosi to make it a habit to visit schools to familiarise themselves with the changes that are already taking place in various schools across the country through the implementation of this programme. For his part, deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education and Skills Development Mr Mogotsa Kewagamang told members of the House that the ministry through Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) also intends to establish a more positive image of the kind of training these institutions offer. He said currently with eight technical colleges and 37 brigades centres, Botswana technical and vocational education is facing an uplift with an intent of attracting A* students from secondary schools. Mr Kewagamang said research has shown that a lot of countries across the globe have gained success in economy through the development of vocational education. He said one initiative that the ministry is also undertaking is to equip vocational education graduates with take away tools that can enable them to get into the market in order to establish themselves well. (BOPA)
Posted on: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 04:22:31 +0000