The address failed the exams

Editor | Tuesday November 9, 2010 00:00

Some got what they wanted while others might have been left with a feeling of dejection. As a newspaper, our interest has been in the area of education, which has been besieged by problems, especially in the administration of examinations particularly for junior and senior secondary schools.  At first, the education crisis seemed more like a labour relations issue between teachers and the Botswana Examinations Council which we thought should have been resolved before the examinations begun. As we all know, the Primary and JC examinations have now been completed. Even the official Botswana Daily News reported widespread crises in the administration of the examinations. At least two examination papers have been rescheduled; to say nothing of the serial bungling that resulted in students writing the wrong papers.

Seeing that the responsible minister was 'absent', we thought the President would weigh in to forestall the crisis that had been threatening to make nonsense of our education system. Not Khama. In his State of the Nation speech yesterday, the President actually gave the scandalous affair of the 2010 examinations a clean bill of health! In his view, the series of fatal problems experienced during these examinations were so negligible that he has concluded that they have been carried out successfully. Infact, President Khama says the media is to be blamed should there be any lingering doubt regarding the conduct of the examinations! Regardless of available evidence to the contrary, Khama maintains that the exams are running properly with the assistance of retired and unemployed teachers.

The only conclusion we can draw from his incredulity is that President Khama is either ill-advised on the extent of the problems afflicting the administration of the exams or, God forbid, he just does not have any affection for education. Unless President Khama is prepared to hear what his friend the Minister of Education (mis)tells him, there is absolutely no way he can miss the humongous problems associated with the conduct of the 2010 examinations.

We expect the President to be sincere in his State of the Nation address, but he completely fails the test in his education assessment. Mr President, it is our children that we are talking about here, and we expect you to look beyond personal friendships and protect Botswana's future leaders. If officials and political appointees fail to measure up to the task, we expect you to weigh in and save the nation. If you also fail, where are we headed as a nation? Mr President unless you want us to dismiss the State of the Nation address as the erroneous little composition of the leader, we implore you to be more candid in your evaluations.

                                                                   Today's thought                                                   'Exam was conducted successfully'.

                                                                   -Ian Khama