BOSETU Dismisses P10m Bootcamp
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday November 16, 2015 16:05
According to a savingram issued by the ministry to all senior secondary schools around the country and regional education offices dated November 10, 2015, a total of P9,115,450 on feeding the students over 14 days and P442,350 on facilitators accommodation, facilitation fees and meals has been approved. In addition, teachers are expected to work overtime and fees for the payments will be sourced from the ministry.
One of the regional education directors who spoke anonymously said that they are currently busy with the examinations and have not planned for the bootcamp in the region.
“We still have to consult with parents, source funds and also get venues,” he said. He said the whole planning process is yet to start. According to a public relations officer at the ministry, Kabelo Kgwarapi, the purpose of the bootcamp is to provide an extension of life skills programmes including career guidance, to all Form Five learners before they leave secondary school. “The rationale behind the initiative is to empower the youth with relevant life skills and social values to enable them to respond to dynamic life situations adequately.
It is also geared towards empowering them with effective career guidance in order to enable an effective transition to tertiary, vocational and entrepreneurial ventures after completion of secondary education,” said Kgwarapi. Kgwarapi further said the bootcamp was introduced in December 2014 and the venue was Gantsi Senior Secondary School.
He said schools have, however, conducted some mini-bootcamps in the past in collaboration with the Basic Education Department.
Skills development and training will be provided to learners, in the following areas: the concept of ‘Botho’ and aligning personal traits; social values; emotional intelligence; character building; anti-corruption/work ethics; entrepreneurship; financial literacy and management; health and wellness; alcohol and substance abuse and volunteerism.
Kgwarapi said schools would use their normal feeding rations to feed the learners participating in the bootcamps stating that the budget will depend on the number of learners per school.
In response BOSETU said, there is no need for bootcamps as this is just a reactive stop gap measure that would not assist the current behaviour and vocational choice challenges faced by students and general youths of the country.
The secretary general Tobokani Rari said: “Our considered view is that the country needs not to always resort to reactive after-thought stop gab measures while they are supposed to have constructive strategic plans to deal with challenges that are besieging the youths”.
Rari added instead, the guidance and counselling departments in schools should be strengthened.
“There are qualified school counsellors graduating from the university who are not being absorbed into schools to provide counselling. Government should be serious with counselling programmes in schools,” he said.
Rari said holistic counselling programmes would deal with issues of behaviour modification, life skills, emotional intelligence and carrier counselling throughout the students’ school life instead of resorting to bootcamps, which would expose students to indiscipline cases.
He said if you congregate such large numbers of students in one place they are bound to misbehave.