20th Century policies cannot address 21st Century issues Take Brigades back to Education ministry Fear of the unknown, bureacracy could kill reforms In an article recently published in the Patriot, I commended the Ministry of Basic Education (MoBE) for having embraced the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP), but further urged them to speed up implementation of this reform. Botswana has had a history of failure to implement, monitor and evaluate reforms, and this time around should show donor agencies the seriousness we give to agreements with our partners in development. As with many education reforms introduced in Botswana in the past, ETSSP is a donor funded education strategy, and the funding organisation in this case is the European Union (EU). I must admit that different externally sponsored reforms in Botswana, and in many other aid recipient countries have failed to achieve the purposes for which they were intended, and as such when EU came on board I was sceptical if this time they would deliver. However, my scepticism about this particular initiative changed at its inception, when it became abundantly clear that the donor was committed to a process of consultation with as many stakeholders as possible. Such…