Venson-Moitoi is caught in a time warp

| Wednesday May 15, 2013 00:00

The sum and substance of the story is overcrowding at the school and all the ills that go with it. It is reported that the minister was shocked to learn that the school has 1,005 pupils, which is way in excess of the 800-limit for primary schools in Botswana. Not surprisingly, the minister was told that seven classes are taught under trees.

This is Borolong's only primary school. Because of the village's proximity to Francistown, being only 15 kilometres to the east of Botswana's second city, the village has experienced an exponential population growth that is overstretching services. In search for a solution, the school Head has now been assigned to compile profiles of pupils in order to establish where their parents live and work and then relocate the children accordingly.

Venson-Moitoi also wants parents put on notice that enrolment for 2014 will not exceed the limit, so that they may make alternative arrangements for their children. There is no money to build more classrooms at the school, according to the minister.We must say her reasoning is understandable because of concerns that performance at Botswana's public schools has been declining partly due to unworkable teacher-student ratios. In some instances, there is one teacher for 40 students or more. Add to that the fact that it is still the case in many instances, especially at primary school level, that teachers are responsible for five subjects or more. Throw in the mix other chronic problems in the working conditions of Botswana's pedagogues, such as shared accommodation in cramped quarters regardless of marital status, and the situation is clearly unconscionable.

This was the teachers' lot before the protracted civil service strike of Winter 2011. Hence we do think it a shame that things should be the same today. But if truth be told, the situation of teachers cannot be divorced from that of other public servants. We speak here of a demoralised lot who are suffocated by debt because they have gone five years without a salary or wage adjustment.

Students, being the children of this wretched lot, are also miserable. Many, especially in impoverished rural areas, walk to school barefoot and on an empty stomach because their parents cannot provide the basic survival needs.And just like their parents, the children are despondent and lack motivation to study or follow other pursuits normal for youth.

Such overwhelming misery either belies the tale of Africa's success story or there is something fundamentally wrong with planning. We think the latter is more the case because three winters later, Venson-Moitoi is still in place and nothing has changed. Sadly, we are reminded of a time last year when the minister famously said she too had been taught under trees in her younger days. Or something like that. For dear Venson-Moitoi, being taught under trees in 21st Century Botswana is all in a day's work. Very clearly, someone is trapped in a time warp here!

                                Today's thought

'The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.'

                                   - Plato