Youth lobby for tighter tertiary sponsorship
Gothataone Moeng | Thursday April 24, 2014 12:20
Youth activists have argued that Botswana’s current wide-ranging sponsorship system has become counter-productive. They say it makes learners aspire to pass their secondary school examinations with the bare minimum just to get sponsored. They argue that the criteria should be stricter to ensure that deserving learners earn sponsorship.
The resolutions were among the targets young people adopted on Tuesday as the main national priorities for youth in the post-2015 development agenda. The agreement was struck at an event dubbed the ‘Youth Think Tank’.
The post-2015 development agenda is meant to be a new roadmap for the world following the expiry of the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Botswana is one of more than 70 countries currently involved in national consultations on the post-2015 development agenda on various thematic areas.
“In Botswana, we have identified education, employment and entrepreneurship areas as our most pressing priorities for the post-2015 agenda,” explained Bogolo Kenewendo, one of the organisers of the Youth Think Tank. She said from the deliberations at the forum, the youth can shape the kind of world they envisage in 15 or 20 years from now. “We are doing something that our grandchildren will be proud of one day,” she said.
During the event, participants separated into two groups to deal with education and entrepreneurship and employment.
Ishmael Chiposyo, presenting on behalf of the education group said the team was concerned about the need to align curriculum to market needs.
“We need to involve industries in curriculum development,” he said. Young people also resolved that the early introduction of entrepreneurship in the school system would nurture more entrepreneurs, and in that way relieve government of the burden of creating jobs for young people.
They agreed that the youth should be involved in the Private Sector Development Strategy under Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM). The forum recommended that government moves towards more innovative education methods so as to reduce reliance on classroom learning; the introduction of more authoritative legislation to ensure the implementation of government educational policies; and ensuring accountability by all stakeholders involved in the education sector.
The Youth Think Tank was organised by The Goddess Foundation and Molaya Kgosi, in an effort to ensure that young Batswana actively participate in the setting, implementation and evaluating of the post-2015 development agenda.
Following the compilation of recommended targets, the two organisations will draft a policy document to be submitted to the United Nations (UN). The document will be considered alongside others from the rest of the world at a UN meeting in Sri Lanka in July, Kenewendo said.