Siele, who was standing in for Minister Shaw Kgathi, was responding to Tonota North Member of Parliament (MP) Fedelis Molao who had asked what progress had been made regarding the establishment of centres of excellence. He had also wanted the minister to state the challenges and successes and if there were any plans to extend the programme to primary schools. Siele said they were not intending to take the programme to primary schools because pupils there are still young and should be allowed to learn different sports before they eventually identify the sport they love. But Molao asked Siele if they did not think it would be a good idea to introduce children to sport at a tender age because they could easily grasp it that way.
Though appreciating the suggestion Siele said primary school-going children are too young and may not exactly understand what they are being taken through. Siele said four junior secondary and six senior secondary schools have been selected to pilot the programme. The schools he said were selected based on among others availability of resources. He, however, told Parliament that the programme is aimed at giving excelling students in sports a chance to learn while also doing sport has also faced teething problems such as lack of resources and sports trained personnel. He said the programme is still being monitored and that currently there is nothing much to be reported about. On the other matter, Francistown South MP Wynter Mmolotsi asked the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Mokgweetsi Masisi whether the Botswana Television (Btv), Radio Botswana (RB) and The Daily News comply with the National Broadcasting Board (NBB) requirements.
