Africa-Press – Botswana. Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe has called upon Masunga Senior Secondary School students to aim high.
Launching the digitilisation programme at the school on Thursday, Dr Letsholathebe said they could only achieve exxcellence if they take their education seriously.
Dr Letsholathebe advised the pupils to respect their teachers, be disciplined and fear God if they were to excel in their education.
He also appealed to the students to take care of the 1 379 laptops issued to them.
The teachers also received 143 laptops.He informed them that the locally manufactured gadgets had been installed with tracking devices and other security features.
The minister appealed to the police to respond immediately to theft cases that could be reported by the school, taking into consideration that the school was located near the border.
On other issues, Dr Letsholathebe explained that the desire to develop human capital with relevant skills to build a viable economy in Botswana had been the country’s priority since independence.
Dr Letsholathebe said his ministry was working on several instruments and programmes that included implementation of multiple path ways to respond to the global move towards the fourth industrial revolution and skills development.
The other instrument, he noted included the provision of ICT equipment and digital learning platforms at basic education level for teaching and learning.
“This is part of the drive towards digitilisation as per the Reset Agenda,” he added.
The development of e-learning policy to facilitate increased access to programmes and services offered through e-learning and to improve quality, equity and affordability of the same across the country were some of the instruments, he said.
He said there was need to develop the technical and vocational education training policy in order to improve the efficiency of the system.
Government, he added, had developed medium and long term plans for reforms in education which would cover the up-skilling of teachers, improving infrastructure at all levels, as well as providing the necessary technology and equipment.
He, however, said budget constraints were always a limiting factor, but government had seen it fit to prioritise digitilisation of education.
For his part, the school head Mr Jabulani Munyere said the school had been promised 91 laptops.
Mr Munyere said digitilisation programme was running smoothly though internet connectivity was still a challenge.
Giving a vote of thanks, North East District Council chairperson, Mr Farayi Bonyongo also advised the students to develop a mindset change.
He also called on parents to play their role in the education of their children as education was a tool that could change their livelihoods.
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