Speaking at the handing over ceremony of the smart classroom this week, Mascom board chairperson Agang Gabana said it has always been the mandate of the telecommunications company to support the government’s efforts. Gabana stated that it has always been the identity and pride of Mascom to support communities through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects which in this year have extended to digital literacy. “Botswana’s national strategy for digital transformation aims to bridge the digital divide through several key initiatives including expanding broadband and fibre optic infrastructure to underserved areas which Mascom has undertaken and we acknowledge the importance of another key initiative of that strategy- developing digital literacy and skills through this project,” Gabana said.
The board chairperson further said this initiative speaks to the government plans of the National Development Plan 12 (NDP 12), which plans on adopting Public Private Partnerships to deliver big projects like this. “Education is a key pillar of this strategy and the access of education for our children that is anchored on the technological advancements of the modern world is one we support. This further affirms the importance of public private partnerships in strengthening education and preparing our children for a future shaped by technology,” he said.
The initiative by Mascom was lauded by the Minister for State President Moeti Mohwasa for complementing the government’s efforts towards digital education as he pointed out that they are implementing President Duma Boko’s endeavours to transform education. “Earlier this year President (Boko) shared the government’s intentions to provide smart education that is future fit. The smart education that we envision goes beyond providing computers to learners and leaving it at that.
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It includes sharing up the curriculum to provide learners with resources,” Mohwasa said. The Minister said it was quite a well thought initiative by Mascom to establish the smart classroom for the reception pupils as it remains wholly important to start them young. “What our children now need is access to modern tools, immersive learning environments and the digital competencies that will prepare them to compete in a world defined by artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing and data driven innovation,” he said.
The new smart classroom at Ramolefhe goes beyond devices and infrastructure as the young pupils will be exposed to coding, logistical thinking, creativity, early engineering and robotics. These will be implemented using tools such as Code & Go Bots, 3D pens using locally developed kits. It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment.
We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it…
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