Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) has once again slammed Finance minister Kenneth Matambo’s budget speech which he recently delivered, warning that with this budget that does not prioritise education, “we are bound to continue to experience low quality education and dwindling results.”
Whilst the Union lauded the fact that “of the Ministerial recurrent budget of P39.66 billion, the biggest share of 6.80 billion, which is a 17.2% of the total ministerial recurrent budget, has been allocated to the Ministry of Basic Education,” they expressed disappointment over the fact that it does not address core issues facing the troubled education sector. Commenting on the budget proposal for the fiscal year 2017/18 with particular focus on the education sector; Secretary General of the Union, Tobokani Rari, said “We believe that the issue should not be that the Ministry of Basic Education got the lion’s share of the recurrent budget, but rather that, would the allocated amount address the core issues that the Ministry is currently grappling with.”
More so, Rari said the development of human resource that would match the job market of the country is a prerequisite for the development of any country hence “our long held view that Botswana should take decisive steps to move away from an economy based on natural resources to a human capital driven economy.”
Rari reiterated the fact that the budget proposal for the year 2017/18 has yet again missed an opportunity “to put right the wrongs of our education system.” With this budget that does not prioritise education, we are bound to continue to experience low quality education and dwindling results.
It is on the basis of the above realities that we feel strongly that though, the Ministry of Basic Education was allocated the largest share of the recurrent budget, the speech does not speak to the specific priorities, and in our considered view the allocated budget to the Ministry of Basic Education would not be able to adequately carry out all the major areas of priorities as enunciated above, said the concerned Secretary General.
