TONOTA: So often today we hear that we are now in the knowledge-based economy. But, there is a serious shortage of books in our schools. When I supervised Tonota College of Education (TCE) students during their teaching practice in junior secondary schools, I often saw up to five students crowding around a single book.And it’s worse now with the COVID-19 pandemic when the need for social distancing prevents students from sharing books. But, it is not as if there are no publishers of textbooks here; there are many – Macmillan, Pearson, Collegium, Diamond... Therefore, it is imperative that government should spend more on textbooks rather than making students share, especially in these days of the pandemic. And we should heed the motto of the Central District Council: Kitso ke nonofo (Knowledge is power)! How true that is! The supply of teaching resources is not always hindered, as one might expect, by a lack of financial resources. This is because in recent years, the Ministry of Basic Education has taken the lion’s share of the annual budget. Rather, it is due to the long drawn out, time-consuming procedure of procuring resources.
Each year, schools prepare estimates of expenses for the coming financial year. These estimates are then sent on; for example, a school in Tonota will send its estimates first to the sub-region office in Tonota after which they are then forwarded to the regional office in Serowe. And from there to Gaborone for final authorisation. The ministry then uses the estimates as a guide for drawing up a budget for each school. And that’s not all! Once the schools have received their budgets for the coming financial year, to obtain resources, subject departments first have to fill in internal requisition forms showing the resources that they would like the school to purchase.
