IDM and Botswana Social Studies Association hold a successful virtual national fair

The long awaited Botswana Social Studies Association (BOSSA) National Fair finally took place in Palapye last week Friday 23rd September 2022 at Mabogo Junior Secondary School.
Officiating at the event, the Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary, Policy Development, Research and Education Reforms in the Ministry of Education and Skills Development Ms.Louis Ngope, commended BOSSA and IDM for creating an opportunity to engage learners academically. She said fairs are also critical to the social development of young people.
“There are so many distractions out there today to lead our children astray. Stress, anxiety and depression are commonplace amongst our youth and it is far too easy to lose focus and engage in unproductive activities just to forget about the stress for a while. It is less easy to choose a better path, to stay engaged, to find joy in learning, to challenge oneself to improve…..This fair and others like it offer that alternative path and I want to commend BOSSA and of course IDM for making this happen,” she said.
Speaking to the theme: Human Resource, A key to Sustainable Development, Ms Ngope acknowledged that human resource development is about providing people with the skills that are needed to run the nation today and in the future.
“It’s also about ensuring that people develop useful personal attributes like motivation, determination, innovation, creativity and a general eagerness to live an honest, decent life and to contribute to the community in which they live to make life good for everybody. So how do we develop the human resource in the right skills that are needed to serve the needs of the nation? Well, we start by engaging the youth as is being done here in this fair. Learners in the past few days and weeks have been challenged to come up with projects, and research important issues, to participate in Public Speaking and Chats. Today we may be focused mostly on the winners but these competitions started at the school level and through that mechanism reached hundreds of young people.”
She applauded the two institutions for using technology to host this year’s fair virtually.
The partnership between IDM and BOSSA according to Ms Bernadette Peto, the Assistant Director-Learner Support at IDM, has been an admirable journey of two partners with a common mission to add value to the development of the education sector in Botswana. She mentioned that the partnership started in 2015 when IDM decided to adopt the Social Studies subject with the primary objective of sponsoring the national fairs.
“This initiative, prepares young people for life in a democratic society within a global context. It enables them to learn about active participation of citizens in the socio-economic and political advancement their country. For among the winners in the various categories, we are hopeful to build and produce future economists, educationists, legislators, development workers, future captains of industry, even future presidents!” she highlighted.
Several winners received laptops, tablets and branded merchandise as recognition for their work.
For his part, the National Chairperson of BOSSA, Mr Modisana Mosweu said the build up to the event was both challenging and exciting. He called on teachers in Social Studies teachers in senior secondary schools to motivate their students to contribute towards the success of the national fair going forward.
IDM sponsored this year’s national fair to the tune of P100, 000.00 which was mainly used to procure prizes for winners and for general logistics to facilitate successful delivery of the initiative.