23 Mar 2015

In the past, it was an abomination for a student to fail standard four. Adolescents who fell pregnant while students were also, at the very least, stigmatised, never mind their academic potential.

Offending boyfriends, however, were allowed to proceed with school, a move that was seen in some circles as unfair.  Imagine at such a tender age, dropping out of school with no means to afford private tuition.

The result was tantamount to capital punishment. Most of those who experienced such a sad reality, today make up the headboys and house maids of our society. How unlucky one could  really be?  Conversely, today it is almost unbelievable how the education system has over the years evolved to meet societal needs.

Every Motswana is generally expected to have Cambridge Certificate as a basic standard of being employable. One does not necessarily have to be a top notch student.  There are countless support programmes for those who encounter hurdles that interfere with their transition in education. 

“There are many programmes designed to assist learners to attain full basic education such as night schools, private centers and BOCODOL, just to mention a few,” says Ministry of Education and Skills Development spokesperson, Mrs Sheila Camm.

All the hurdles that stood on the way to attaining full basic education which goes as far as Cambridge Certificate have been removed, leaving everything in the hands of the learner. Amongst various education programmes tailored to deliver quality education to the nation is the Back to School programme which by records has achieved remarkable success. 

“This programme is mostly designed for disadvantaged children, say for example those who were taken out of school to help parents in farms or those coming from poor families. We offer them a second chance to attaining full basic education,” says Mrs Camm, adding that the programme also answers the Vision 2016 pillar of an informed and educated nation.

Mrs Camm says since inception of the programme, placement of most of the students who applied has been a great achievement. 

“There has been an overwhelming response from its beneficiaries and tertiary student in particular have been able to complete their programmes after reinstatements, repeats and progression exercise,” she says, adding that the ministry is satisfied with the number that has been placed to go back to school so far given that the process to place all the applicants is ongoing. 

So far, 62 615 students have been enrolled under the programme with a large number admitted by BOCODOL. However, the pass marks have not been so impressive.  In the just released Junior Certificate results, only 0.8 percentage of back to school students managed to obtain B grade while 2.9 per cent obtained C grade. 

“The analysis of why back to school students are not doing well academically is ongoing in regional offices and schools across the country and the ministry is still analysing the outcome of all the results. The analysis will be to inform the ministry as to what the cause is and what remedial action can be taken,” explains Mrs Camm.

Private institutions chairman, Mr Stephen Sorinyana, observes in an interview that the reason students enrolled under private institutions are not doing well is because of lack of trained teachers, adding that the environment in the schools is also not conducive for learning. “Too much needs to be done to support these students, otherwise this will be the same scenario year in and year out,” he reckons.

On the other hand, Mrs Camm cites critical staff shortage in brigades and technical colleges, absence of a clearly defined sponsorship policy and lack of accommodation facilities as denying some learners an opportunity to do well.  “This programme is popular across the country and at all levels of education and we are working hard to support the learners,” says Mrs Camm. ENDS