I will jump out if implicated – Letsholathebe
Larona Makhaiza | Monday October 23, 2023 06:00
Putting his head on the chopping block during a media briefing yesterday, Letsholathebe says he will resign if it were to be proved that he and his ministry together with Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) dropped the ball in the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations leakage scandal.
It has been confirmed that a total of seven of syllabi (subjects) and 19 components (examination papers) were leaked before sitting, an incident which has since compelled the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MESD) to postpone the examinations to October 30, 2023.
The ministers’ assertion comes after local unions and opposition political parties called for him and the BEC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to resign. Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has called for the resignation of the education Minister for lack of political will to remedy the situation that has been festering for some time now.
Letsholathebe said the unions and parties should wait until the investigations are done. He promised that if the mistake comes from their side he will remorsefully walk away from his office as the education minister. “I have seen and read the news that I should resign from the unions but I want to put the word out there that they should at least wait first with their call for me to resign.
The reason being I want the investigations to carry on without anyone resigning and if there are implications that I am implicated or dropped the ball I assure you that I will be the first person to jump out,” Letsholathebe said.
Letsholathebe emphasized that he is an ‘academic person’ so he will not try and put up a fight to try and save his position if somehow he is implicated in the leakages.
Letsholathebe says he understands that his position does not allow for one to sleep on the job. Letsholathebe revealed that the suspended examinations would resume on October 30 assured the public that the papers in the public domain will not be used. “When the examinations resume we will be using alternative exam papers which have never made it to the public domain,” he explained.
Additionally, he added that the public should know that the alternative papers have always been there, therefore were not done over night. “People should know that examinations setting process is always done three years before,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, the minister urged the candidates to be on the lookout for new examination timetable and implored them to continue preparing for the exams as they should not let the leakages deter them.