BOOTCAMP GRADUATES ASSURED OF FUNDING?

| Monday March 18, 2013 00:00

 

The Monitor team gate-crashed a party hosted by the graduates of the bootcamp in Gaborone recently, where they narrated how they have an upper hand over those who did not go through the training. The youth who met at a Gaborone house to celebrate their recent return from the bootcamp said they have been told they will be given 10 chances in a year to succeed in their applications for funding.

In contrast, other youth who did not undergo the bootcamp will no have the luxury of trying again and again. The bootcamp youth view this assurance as proof that they will be given priority over their peers.

They told The Monitor that they were given certificates showing that they graduated from the boot camp. The certificates will help them in applications for funding.

Recently the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, when responding to The Monitor questionnaire said the boot camps are voluntary and attendance is not a pre-requisite for funding.

Meanwhile, Youth, Sports and Culture Minister, Shaw Kgathi told Parliament on Thursday that the boot camp is an important component of the youth empowerment scheme as it is used to foster character building and behaviour change. He said the four to six weeks programme has modules on health and wellness, entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, team building, discipline and stress management and drug and alcohol abuse.