02 Jul 2024

A second-time award recipient during the national Botswana Teachers’ Day celebrations, a determined Mr Moemedi Mosane is certain that he will achieve his target of having been awarded in every category by the time he retires from teaching.

Back in 2011, Mr Mosane received the Meritorious Service Award, an honour bestowed on teachers who have worked exceptionally well in and outside the classroom and have contributed professionally to the progression of the education sector.

This time around, he landed the Mid-Career Award at this year’s Teachers’ Day celebrations at Big Valley Lodge near Lobatse on Friday, bringing with possible-reach his quest to scale the heights further and aim for the rest of the awards.

“My intention is to move up the ladder with these awards, and I believe that if I got the first two, nothing will stand in the way of attaining the remaining two. I know what is wanted, I know that it goes beyond the quality results that one produces in the classroom,” he says.

Mr Mosane is determined to go above and beyond the rudimentary roles of his profession, thereby ensuring that he leaves permanent imprints not only in the schools he gets assigned to, but also in the respective communities in which the schools are located.

Mr Mosane has his hands full as he is deeply engrossed in traditional dance, where he adjudicates during competitions and coaches groups, particularly in their preparations for the national President’s Day competitions.

“I also lead the volleyball category of the Re Ba Bona Ha programme in Selebi Phikwe and some of my products are in the Under 20 national volleyball team,” he adds, as he paints a picture of how his daily schedule goes beyond delivering the curriculum to pupils.

Further to all these, Mr Mosane, who is stationed at Selebi Phikwe’s Botshabelo Primary School, yearns for a wholesome teaching and learning environment conducive to producing a wholesome future generation.

To him, attaining this will take the collaborative effort of all stakeholders within the society and it is this multilateral relationship that will guarantee a desirable future for Botswana.

A retired teacher, Ms Dorcus Olebile found herself in teaching not out of choice, but out of the lack of proper career guidance.

She had wanted to become a lawyer, but a lack of knowledge of how to access programmes at higher institutions of learning dealt a death-blow to her dream.

“I joined this profession by accident. I wanted to be a lawyer, but did not have any information of the application processes to study to become one. Later when the application period was over, someone asked me to apply for admission at MCE (Molepolole College of Education),” Ms Olebile says, giving a background of how she came into contact with teaching.

A hard worker who strove for results under whatever circumstances, this saw her quickly progress through the ranks to become school head in 2005.

“Upon my return from further studies at UB in 2005, I stayed for two weeks and got promoted to the position of school head. I was never a deputy, neither did I ever act for the position of deputy. 

This speaks to my exceptional performance,” she says as she reminisces of her professional journey.

While the profession is evolving as it should, Ms Olebile says government still has a lot to do in terms of creating conditions that are ideal for teachers to excel at their work.

She says with good policies already in place the only thing that is lacking is their implementation.

“It doesn’t really help to have good policies if you are not going to implement them. What is contained in the Education Act for instance could help if it was to be implemented. 

The transfer policy too should be looked into because we cannot continue to have spouses living apart because of work,” Ms Olebile observes. At the Teachers’ Day celebrations, Ms Olebile was second on the list of recipients of the Long and Distinguished Service Award, a category whose honours were bestowed by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Ms Boikhutso Sello, another Mid-Career Award recipient now pursuing a Bachelor of Education – Primary at UB is happy to have made the cut and cherishes the award as it speaks to her unwavering commitment to the teaching profession. 

She implores the teacher who is yet to receive any award to not despair. 

“They should hang on to their love for the profession because whatever that is done out of love will be done effortlessly even in the face of challenges. Love makes even the most difficult of tasks possible,” she notes.  Ends