Africa-Press – Botswana. Officials at Debswana have said the diamond mining company has a plan to co-design an educational support programme that meets the needs of their host communities.
The company’s managing director Andrew Motsomi revealed they have set themselves a target to ensure that they support the schools in their areas of influence to be amongst the top 20 performing schools nationally by the year 2030. He said this when addressing relevant stakeholders during a donation of eight porta cabin classrooms worth over P1.3 million at Rakops Junior Secondary School. The donation was made possible by the Project Management office employees together with their business partners; Lereka Engineering, RMB Solution, and Pinagare Engineers. To realise this goal, he explained that Debswana conducted an education and skills survey for future study in 2022 to establish improvement areas in 54 schools in their host communities.
He explained that the study looked into, amongst others, learner performance, teacher performance, administration, and infrastructure. Motsomi also shared that their plan includes developing a new way of addressing issues that concern 54 schools in their host communities. He also stated that the plan would also address the causes of low pass rates from primary to secondary school levels. Additionally, the programme is intended to be co-implemented with the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education and will focus on two core areas. “First, we aim to support better pass rates and academic progression by enabling better numeracy, literacy, and science knowledge,” Motsomi said “Second, we aim to accelerate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) understanding,” he added. Furthermore, the managing director indicated that they have seen the significant benefits that students can gain through better ICT understanding, including the ability to self-teach.
Later on, Motsomi indicated that the project is being delivered at a time when Debswana is faced with harsh economic challenges. Despite the severe economic downturn engulfing the diamond industry, he indicated that the diamond miner remains resolute in building a stronger future for the generations to come. “Through our Building Forever strategy, our vision is to be a catalyst for host communities to achieve better outcomes on education, health and livelihoods in our mines’ zone of influence to complement government efforts. “Alignment with promoting Sustainable Communities by providing essential support for vulnerable members of the society, we respond to community needs across different areas like Sport Development, Enterprise Development, Skills Development, and Water and Sanitation Services to name a few,” he added. Motsomi mentioned that their response to the needs of their communities also covers Early Childhood Development and Enhancement or Development of Education Facilities.
For his part, the area Member of Parliament, Sam Digwa, said the donation should not be taken for granted, but rather seriously so that it can improve the school’s performance to be amongst the top 20 nationally. He said there is a need for collaborative efforts in the community through the help of Parents, Teachers Associations (PTA) and children in order to improve performance. Digwa indicated education is key as it gives them survival skills for the future. “The donation is going to improve learner and teacher performance. Some students were taught under the trees which brings hindrance to learning due to a lot of obstruction in the environment,” he added.
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