Is Back-To-School initiative a political gimmick?

SYLVIAH DISELE
Correspondent | Wednesday May 1, 2013 00:00

It is interesting for the government to be taking people back to school yet it is failing to create employment opportunities. Is it wise for the government to impart skills who will remain jobless after graduation? From the look of things, the youth and idlers will be removed from streets for a short term as the back-to-school runs only till 2015.

It is a fact that the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is not popular with the youth. So whoever came up with the initiative may have thought of this. Of course, the 2014 general elections are around the corner. If Back-To-School is a great idea, why should it take off from 2013 to 2015?

The Back-To-School initiative can be a way of attracting more youth to the polling stations. This view is shared by the secretary for public education at Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Dr Philip Bulawa. He said that they have listened to the Minister of Education, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi talking about it and it does not make sense.

He said the target group has long left school and they are supposed to go to Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCODOL). Otherwise the only eligible people would be those who sat exams last year. Bulawa said that the BDP is well aware that if the Back-To-School youth join BOCODOL, there will be a lot of inconveniences hence they will not vote in the upcoming general elections.

He said BCP believes that the classes in schools are abnormal as the ratio of student to teachers is very high. This means that teachers are going to have a hard time, as students will overwhelm them. Bulawa said the government has come up with many initiatives for the youth but the major set back is that there is no land. 'Land in Botswana is owned by a few individuals. In other countries, the government would take back this land and allocate it to the commoners so that they can utilise the programmes.'

He said that the people who come up with youth programmes are the ones who own huge chunks of land. He warned Batswana to be alert as the government will come up with many initiatives as the 2014 polls approach. 'In 2013, a lot of initiatives will be rolled out. Even salary increments are possible.' Bulawa said that Batswana tend to forget easily, hence the next good developments that BDP avail will be in 2018 when it prepares for the 2019 general elections.