Building a Knowledge Society one brick at a time
Thousands of pupils across the country this week filled school hallways, most of them looking forward to the first day of a new academic year. Some on the other hand stepped tentatively into an unfamiliar classroom in a new school.
However, the shine of a brand- new school year soon will wear off, as teachers and pupils settle into the routine of classroom instruction, homework and lots of tests. Many days of school will eventually seem like a normal chore.
Sometimes even the teachers - who tackle their tough jobs with enthusiasm year after year despite undeserved disrespect from a large segment of the general public - will wish they had stayed in bed. But each school year is a promise to be fulfilled or broken, depending on the effort put in by pupils, their parents and teachers.
Teachers have a right to expect their young charges to treat them and each other with respect, to come to class prepared, to complete assignments, to pay attention, to try their best and to ask for extra help when it is needed.
Pupils also have a right to expect that their teachers too will be prepared, respect them, not make assumptions about their academic potential based on their upbringing, be available for extra help and create a classroom atmosphere in which learning is both conducive and enjoyable.
A love for learning usually goes hand in hand with a teacher who inspires and pays attention. As pupils get older, more of the responsibility for their education falls on them.
Our children deserve to excel, even if it means that schools must make a greater effort to help them understand that education can take them places even if they have been dealt a rotten hand early in life.
Education is their birthright, not a privilege; the schools, lawmakers and the public have an obligation to help them claim it. Pupils, their parents and teachers are partners in the process. It is the only way to redeem the country’s collapsing education system. Indeed, where there is a will, there is a way and we believe that with a sense of seriousness and commitment on the part of the collective, including investment in Research and Development ( R& D), Botswana can become a knowledge society, attract citizens of other nations to study here and eventually export some of its expertise to the rest of the world. We ought to start from the foundation, building one brick at a time, if ever we hope to achieve this monumental feat in the near future. Botswana is aspiring to become a knowledge- based economy and this can only be achieved when we, as a nation put our efforts together in educating our children.