Africa-Press – Botswana. Government will next year roll-out the multiple pathways programme countrywide as it strives to make reforms in the education and training sector.
This was revealed by Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe during a consultative kgotla meeting in Gabane on Tuesday(August 8).
He said the key objective of government through the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) was to build a comprehensive skills base in the technical and vocational training (TVET) sub-sector, that would give Batswana the necessary skills and prepare young people for the world of work. He said in the new system learner profiling compelled programmes within the education system to be aligned to the learners’ self-awareness by recognising their own capabilities while deciding on a future career choice at an early stage.
Dr Letsholathebe said as early as next year all schools would offer TVET programmes that were piloted in Maun and Moeng senior schools .
Because of their strategic locations, Maun senior offered tourism, hospitality training while Moeng offered animal husbandry, field and crop production as well as horticulture.
He told Gabane residents that he was aware of some challenges faced by the teaching fraternity such as shortage of accommodation and lack of textbooks.
Dr Letsholathebe said the recent provision of digital accessories such as laptops was in a way to close that gap and fulfil the digitalization dream.
He said the declining performance rate in exams was also a concern and government was in talks with other stakeholders such as Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) and Curriculum Development and Evaluation on how to address the matter and making significant inroads towards some of the challenges in the teaching and learning process.
For his part, Kgosi Seeletso Pule of Gabane decried the growing number of reports on indiscipline in the school communities.
He said the school feeding programme also needed to be reviewed as it presented challenges of quality.
Kgosi Pule urged government to consider establishing a vocational school in Gabane that would help enroll a high number of dropouts.
He said vocational training had huge potential in the socio-economic development.
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