Advancing Social Transformation
Equal access to social services
The Health care system in Botswana is failing. Although we have a decent spread of health infrastructure across the country, health facilities are understaffed. They do not have requisite equipment and medical supplies. Doctor and nurse to patient ratios are too high relative to WHO standards, thereby compromising the quality of health care for our dear people.
We will improve the quality of public health care by progressively working towards full compliance with WHO standards for staffing, availing appropriate equipment in health facilities, resolving the logistics and procurement challenges around the availability of medical supplies, deploying ICTs to improve system efficiency and access to services, and improving the working conditions of health care professionals.
Our education system is in total disarray. Failure rates in public schools are too high at both the primary and secondary education levels. Teacher to student ratios are also unacceptably high. Primary and secondary school infrastructure is dilapidated. Schools do not have critical equipment and materials. Working
conditions for teachers are deplorable. The current student allowance for tertiary students is so low as to be a binding constraint on access to learning.
We will ensure free and compulsory quality education for all learners from the pre-school to the secondary school level. We will supply tablets to learners in primary and secondary schools within the first three years of a UDC government. We will raise the Tertiary education student allowance to P2500 per month.
We will provide free sanitary pads. We commit to reduce the student teacher ratio to 1:25 and improve working conditions of teachers tremendously.
Old age pension
The old age pension is a paltry P530 per month, which sadly denies our senior citizens dignity. We will increase the old age pension to P1500 per month to help seniors afford the basics for subsistence. After all many of them are responsible for raising their grandchildren.
