Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC) has expressed unhappiness at the government decision to close schools.
Last week Government closed down schools after spontaneous violence by secondary school students erupted across the country.
While primary schools have since opened, secondary schools have remained closed indefinitely as per minister’s decision.
In a statement, the Youth Council implores the young people to rise and claim their moment.
“We would like to impress it upon the youth of this country to rise to the occasion and portray a high level of maturity and accountability in their legitimate show of concern on the effects of the strike on their education,” reads a statement from the BNYC.
The organisation said that it acknowledges the right of all people to air their grievances but it views the “recent reports of violence and acts of vandalism and looting attributed to rioting students as a serious cause for concern”.
BNYC, which is a youth establishment sponsored by government for the development and empowerment of the country’s young people, has also called for restraint among the youth as they express their opinion at the ongoing crisis caused by the public service strike.
BNYC said the youth should know that the organisation shares their concerns on the possible effects the public sector strike could have on their future.
The current Form 4’s were also victims of last year’s examinations scandals at the Ministry of Education. According to the statement, the examinations were marred with controversy and disagreement between the teachers and the government.
“The closure of schools is certainly not going to help the situation as the Form 4s will lose further ground on the school calendar while the form 5s who will be sitting for final year examinations will also be hard hit,” read the statement.
