Agriculture pathway takes off
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday December 4, 2020 17:36
The usually quiet remote Tswapong hills-based secondary school was selected by the Ministry of Basic Education (MoBE) to host facility.
It got the nod thanks to its rich history of producing its own food that sustained the school and its community in yesteryears. The vast lands around the secluded institution and abundant water from boreholes and the nearby Lotsane Dam have given the school a perfect choice for agriculture.
The multiple pathways is the education and sector training strategic plan that intends to strengthen the match between academic qualifications and labor market requirements, to align education output to employment needs.
Last week MoBE hosted various stakeholders at the college to experience the progress of the project firsthand. The project is expected to welcome the first batch of learners next year in February.
A select of 120 Form four learners at Moeng College will be enrolled in the agriculture pathways. The learners have already been identified and profiled at the junior secondary schools that feed Moeng College. The project focuses on crop production, horticulture and animal husbandry.
An urgency to ensure structures are ready for the commencement of the pathway is visible as the project races against time. P10 million in recurrent budget and P21 million in development budget was injected in the first phase of the project.
The director of education in the Central District, Sonny Mooketsi said that from the multi-million Pulas they had spent P2 million by far.
“We expect that before the end of the year our total expenditure would be at P4 million. We have secured some other equipment and animals that are yet to arrive on-site,” he said.
Two farms measuring 11 hectors and 16 hectares west and east of the entrance road have been fenced. Two hectares of land has been demarcated at the old famous orchard area inside the school for the production of fruits and ornamental plants. A four hectares land is fenced at the school’s garden for vegetable productions.
Inside the farms, various construction companies from different villages in the proximity of the College are busy demarcating the farms, constructing kraals and paddocks, and fishponds.
Brown Swiss dairy cattle that were recently procured for the project are already on-site, and one has already given birth. Saanen dairy goats bought from the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN), and large white pigs are also on site.
Over 50 Tswana goats and sheep being donations from various secondary schools have also been delivered to the school and are also roaming on the farm. The project coordinator, Joseph Morebodi revealed to delegates during a tour of the project that the school had also procured a Simmental bull that is yet to be delivered. They are also donation pledges of of goats and sheep from other secondary schools across the country that they were yet to collect.
He took the delegation through various sites where eight staff houses, and state-of-the-art laboratories at the learning centre would be constructed. The Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) would build houses and the laboratories for the project.
“We gave the construction to BHC in anticipation of prompt completion of the two flats of eight staff units and the state of the art laboratories in a short space of time. We expect that by the end of January the buildings would be ready,” he said.
Morebodi also said a lot of construction was still to be done for the phase one project. The project lagging behind amongst others is the milking parlour and the water tank.
A 500, 000 cubic litres tank will be constructed on the western farm. It would be fed from the two boreholes that produce 8,000 litres per hour and 4, 000 litres per hour respectively and piping water to the farms and gardens. “Our cattle are already producing milk. In the meantime, while we are yet to construct a milking parlour we would be feeding the school and processing milk through our traditional biotechnology to make sour milk to sell to our nearby communities,” he explained.
The project has ensured community beneficiation. Companies engaged for all constructions of kraals, paddocks and fencing are from the villages of Ratholo, Manaledi, Moshopha, Lerala and Ramokgonami. Meanwhile, another pathway project that focuses on tourism is underway at Maun Senior Secondary School.