'Venson-Moitoi must go!' - Saleshando
Gothataone Moeng | Thursday February 6, 2014 16:41
He said that the demoraliing results coming from all levels of the public school system leave parents with no option but to 'flee to private institutions'whose students fare much better.
Saleshando, president of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), was responding to the national budget speech, which the Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) Kenneth Matambo presented to Parliament on Monday.
Yesterday, Saleshando condemned the deteriorating educational results, which he said continue to go downhill despite the heavy investment the government has put into the sector. He said that the Minister of Education and Skills Development (MOESD) Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi is ‘clearly failing’ despite the resources at her disposal.
'The education system has become a black hole. We are putting more and more money into the system, but are not getting the (desired) results,' he said.
On Monday Matambo announced that, as in the past several years, education would receive almost a quarter of the whole budget. An estimated 29 percent of this year’s total budget is destined for the ministry.
Saleshando said despite the heavy investment, not only does the quality of education continue to go downhill, but also schools and institutions are under-resourced lacking such basic tools as books.
'In some schools, what is meant to be a [science laboratory] has been converted into a classroom because there is no equipment. In some schools in Gaborone parents are being asked to buy books for their children,' he said.
He called for the Education Minister to be accountable and take responsibility for the continuing decline in results, saying she must learn that the buck stops with her. He said the minister must give up on her tendency to blame politicians for students’ bad results. Saleshando also condemned government’s continuing failure to introduce national pre-primary education, saying this is a drawback for children of those economically disadvantaged.
'Your voters' children have to wait four years for an education, while your children get a head start. Under a BCP-led government, there will be pre-primary education for all,” he said.
He said the bad results are compounded by lack of use of mother-tongue languages, saying that the BCP pledges to introduce them in schools if voted into power.
Saleshando also condemned what he said is government’s expectation that young people should 'park' their lives, while they participate in government initiatives such as Tirelo Sechaba and Ipelegeng. He decried that the pool of poor people who need welfare seems to be getting bigger every year.