12 Nov 2024

 Early childhood learning will be available to every child in the country, President Mr Duma Boko has said.

Addressing the media following the appointment of the first six cabinet ministers and two deputies in Gaborone on November 11, Mr Boko said the new ministry led by former University of Botswana lecturer, Dr Nono Kgafela-Mokoka, would ensure every child was accorded early childhood learning.

 “It is not going to be a preserve of the elite. It is not going to be enjoyed only by a few, it is going to be available to every child,” he said. 

He said the move would involve revamping of schools, adding that the new administration was in favour of schools where children would have their talents discovered, refined and honed so that they used those talents to improve and assist their country.

 “This is what our education is going to do.

I made a promise to the people out there. I said your children will love school, first because it will be hospitable to them, it will be their place,” Mr Boko said.

Furthermore, he said government would lay down the baselines and levels of what qualified and did not qualify to be school.

He said government would bridge the gap between public schools and private schools, to ensure that citizens would not be forced by substandard education in public schools to spend money taking their children to private schools.

Mr Boko said such a narrative would change under the new administration but emphasised the need for working together to effect change in the sector.

Furthermore, Mr Boko said the new ministry was a fulfillment of one of the new administration campaign promises and it would be interested in children’s welfare issues.

Meanwhile, the creation of the new ministry has received accolades from Childline Botswana, a non-governmental organisation advocating for the rights of the children as well as United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Botswana.

Childline’s Communications Officer, Ms Gaone Chepete commended government for the change, saying it would place children rights at the heart of development. 

She said adequate investment in children’s wellbeing was the foundation of the country’s human capital development.

UNICEF Botswana in its official Facebook commended government and said the new ministry would go a long way in ensuring that children’s rights remained at the heart of the national agenda. ends