Education ministry broke
Friday, September 02, 2016

Ministry of Education
Assistant minister Fidelis Molao, who met with teachers from Molepolole sub-region on Tuesday, to discuss a wide range of issues in the profession, said the ministry was running at a budget deficit of P1billion. He explained that this financial status was making it difficult for in-service training to materialise.
“The ministry is operating at zero budget for training. As we are grappling with in-service training people should consider to self-train and develop with institutions of distance learning such as the Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning,” Molao said. “We are really budget constrained. We had hoped to replicate the process that saw some of your colleagues sent to schools a few years ago but under the prevailing circumstances, we don’t see it happening anytime soon,” he added.
While every citizen, including the Head of State, has the right to voice opinions, the tone and context of the President’s comments were regrettably dismissive and risk chilling free expression in our country. The remarks are not isolated. They form part of a disturbing pattern of public attacks on independent institutions pillars essential to the healthy functioning of our democracy. The Judiciary, the Legislature, and now the media have all...