23 Sep 2024

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed a concern that academic performance of schools countrywide was not good enough.

He was speaking during a kgotla meeting in Tshimoyapula on Thursday where he said that if accorded an opportunity for a second term, he would use his expertise as a former teacher, to develop education.

President Masisi said education needed collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, to improve academic performance in schools.

He said a proper feeding plan, potable water, enough rest, proper accommodation, happiness, and peace were necessary for one to attain good academic results.

President Masisi shunned domestic violence as being detrimental to a child’s learning process and encouraged others to condemn it too because education was important to improving people’s lives

On other issues, President Masisi said government programmes were available to the public such as the recently unviled ‘Maja-A-Ikgorosa’ relief programme that was more relevant to Tshimoyapula as they had few cattle.

 ‘Maja-A-Ikgorosa’ Relief Programme, he said was a collaborative effort involving the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) and Local Enterprise Authority (LEA).

 

Its aim he said was to help small and medium-sized cattle farmers gain better value for their agricultural efforts.

 

In adition, Dr Masisi said the programme was meant to assist those in need of cash, to take their cattle to feed lotters and buy supplementary feeds for their cattle to improve carcass quality before selling.

 

He imploring Batswana to seek advise from relevant authorities so as to get correct information about the programme, so that they could be assisted.

 

Dr Masisi said with the arrangement Batswana could hypothecate their cattle for a loan because of improved quality.

 

Under the programme, farmers are not assisted to buy cattle but avail their cattle for feeding purposes so as to improve carcass quality before selling, President Masisi explained and further stated that the feeding plan had a time frame because keeping cattle too long in a feeding lot was not cost effective.

 

He stated that P100 million had been availed for the programme, thus encouraging constituents to use it and grow their agricultural enterprises albeit warning that it did not cater for stolen cattle and one should be the authentic owner of the cattle through branding.

The President said he was duty bound to ensure Batswana were living better lives. Ends