Africa-Press – Botswana. The Embassy of South Korea has donated special education ICT equipment to Ledumang Primary School in Gaborone.
Speaking at the hand over ceremony on Wednesday, Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe said the donation was in alignment with the country’s aspiration of transforming from a resource based to a knowledge based economy.
“It is therefore a great privilege for us as a country to receive this gift of 22 interactive boards and their wall mounts, 290 tablets and their key board covers,” he said.
The donation, he said, augmented government effort of distributing ICT gadgets in schools, as the country embraced the use of technology in learning.
Dr Letsholathebe said what was left was changing the school curriculum to align with the changes.
He said the envisaged school curriculum would give everyone an opportunity, adding that the gesture by South Korea Embassy would help the country to advance the agenda of inclusive education.
Furthermore, Dr Letsholathebe said the donation enhanced the participation of learners with special needs.
On other issues, he said one of the key barriers to education for learners had been acquisition of 21st century skills needed to prepare them for the world of work.
“We therefore trust that this donation is going to go a long way in transforming the provision of teaching and learning in these special education units and improve the outcomes of learning for learners with intellectual disabilities,” he said.
Furthermore, he said Ledumang, Tsienyane and Kgaphamadi Primary Schools had established special education units and benefited from the donation.
South Korea ambassador, based in South Africa, Mr Chull-joo Park said his country had started a project of donating ICT equipment to Botswana schools.
He said he was hopeful that the equipment would provide assistance to learners and staff, adding that no one would be left behind.
Mr Park further said he was hopeful that the pupils would utilise the ICT equipment to improve their lives.
He added that the South Korea Embassy was looking forward to more collaboration with Botswana.
Ledumang Primary School, head Ms Ipelegeng Pasela said the school had an enrollment of 813 learners of which 50 had learning difficulties.
She said the school had managed to integrate learners with learning difficulties into mainstream school, with some having progressed to obtain tertiary education qualification.
From Ledumang Primary School, Ambassador Park proceeded to Ambrose Academy, a private school catering for learners with special needs, where he donated special education gadgets.
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