Patrick van Rensburg

As is already public knowledge, the founder of Mmegi, of the Brigades and driver of the concept of Education with Production in Botswana, Patrick van Rensburg, passed away Tuesday morning. In this tribute, we have pulled from the files a paper by his longtime friend, and protge, METHAETSILE LEEPILE who is also the chairman of the Mmegi Investment Holdings, on the importance of promoting Education with Production i(EwP) in a competitive, knowledge-based economy. This is an edited version of the presentation he made to a Vision 2016 workshop last year

l The legend bows out

This paper attempts to do three things: address the theory and application of the EwP model in Botswana from an historical perspective, assess challenges and constraints; and conjure the role EwP can play within a knowledge-based economy. The author is a product of the model, having been educated in Swaneng Hill School in Serowe during the heyday of the model, and being a protégé of the master, Patrick van Rensburg, better known as PvR by friends, with whom he worked at the Foundation of Education with Production (FEP) and Mmegi wa Dikgang newspaper in the 1980s. This is a reflection on PvR’s ideas to the extent possible, and how these can be applied within the context of the national vision.

Editor's Comment
Boko should stop the fighting and start the delivering

With his theme of 'Delivering on Our Promise, One Step at a Time', he sought to project an image of a focused, determined leader building a new ‘Rome’. Sadly, parts of his speech were not about laying bricks, but about settling old scores.It is deeply worrying that a head of government would use such a pivotal national address to launch another bitter broadside against the media and his political detractors. His portrayal of the...

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