The Government Of Botswana is the Enemy of the Students Struggle!!
I woke up today, at that crucial intersection point of voices and viewpoints; many and varied.
That intersection point was the site of a clash between democratic energies and certain authoritarian impulse. Above all, i was really embittered and abashed by the Government plans to Stop students allowances. I am not surprised at all, i saw this coming, i was expecting such kind of a pea brained solution from the Government during this pandemic.
With the current government, education no longer promotes justice, national unity and cohesion at all. It has became an agent of social division and entrenched inequality. It does not provide the youth across the entire country who were born into poverty and disadvantages to escape these cloying circumstances of their birth instead it suppresses them.
“EDUCATION IS FOR THE RICH”
We did not arrive at this distress and conjugation because of Covid-19 no, we are here because of the embraced corruption in Botswana. The funding that has gone into education has failed and failed miserably to improve the quality of our education at all levels. The large amounts of money in Billion Pula that we have poured into education , does not fund education but a bloated bureaucracy that failed to transform the learning environment positively.
Most of the students in Botswana come from humble backgrounds They depend on depend on the allowances to cover up for the expenses they incur throughout their studies, similarly the University of Botswana and other tertiary schools concomitantly depend from such initiatives. The government should not make their decisions based on their feelings No., that is totally unacceptable.
The recent statistics shows that the Salary range of Botswana for people working is typically from P 2,831(Minimum Salary) to ( 22,642,Highest average actual maximum salary). if you relate this with the cost of learning and also considering the fact that many people have lost jobs due to retrenchments which was caused by the business restrictions(the rate of unemployment), you will also understand that it is incontrovertible that no/ very few parents in Botswana can afford the sponsorship.
To my friends from the other aisle the GS26 and whoever who supports this initiative, honestly at this point we need to stand united and fight as one. We should open our minds and learn that these problems do not target opposition students. You also do not have sponsorships and you also need financial liberation.
“Let us learn to live together so that we do not perish together”
