Speaking on a tour at Selebi-Phikwe Secondary School on Tuesday, the Okavango MP said the ministry told Parliament that there were sufficient books in schools while the contrary is shockingly true.Arone warned that Education Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi and her "team" have a lot to answer for."Fragile as it is, education is not a service that one can afford to play political games with," he said.He said a question regarding delivery of textbooks in schools was once asked in Parliament and they were told that books were sufficient. He said that it is regrettable that there has been nothing to celebrate in terms of quality education for the past five years. "The declining schools results show that there is no return on investment," he added.He said for nation building purposes, all stakeholders must come together to find a common solution.He added that Parliament has introduced investigative portfolio committees that have powers to ensure that government polices are delivered according to plan.
He regretted, however, that such committees have been receiving a lot of resistance as they are perceived to be witch-hunters. The MP was also concerned that most schools are war zones between management and teachers, adding that it is no environment to get good results.He added that all his committee members are teachers by profession so they are aware of the system. He revealed that his committee is visiting schools that have been doing well as well as those that have been under-performing to also look at teachers' welfare.He praised the Selebi-Phikwe region for doing well. He added that as legislators they want to see Parliament playing its oversight role and said efforts to make the national assembly independent are well underway.For his part, another committee member MP Wynter Mmolotsi said the declining nationwide academic results for the past five years, with last year's best school scoring only 43 percent, is a sign that the country is not doing well. He said the country runs the risk of failing to attain national vision pillars of an educated and informed nation by 2016.
