DG Jeanette Bancarz with Wendy Fung Reuscher and Club President Eric Germain 

Eric Germain presented a Paul Harris Award Pin to Wendy Fung Reuscher this week for her continued support of the Rotary Foundation. 

Recently, I found myself sitting in a classroom with high school students, observing how they were learning, engaging with technology, collaborating, questioning and experiencing education in a way that felt very much like the 21st-century learner experience we once envisioned for Botswana.

Because suddenly, I was reliving a vision I had once worked so passionately to advance.

During my time as Reform Secretary in the Ministry of Basic Education, one of the key ambitions of the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) was to reimagine education for the 21st-century learner — to move beyond traditional approaches and create schools and classrooms that prepared young people for a rapidly changing world.

We spoke about transformation.

We spoke about technology-enabled learning.

We spoke about the skills young people would need for the future.

We spoke about partnerships that could help Botswana leapfrog into a new era of education.

At the time, Microsoft Education was willing and committed to working with Botswana. There was an opportunity for Botswana to become a pilot and demonstrate what a truly transformed, technology-enabled education system could look like.

I remember the work, the conversations, the partnerships we were trying to build and the possibilities we could see.

But sometimes, visions are ahead of their time.

And despite the work and the opportunities that were presented, I was never able to see that transformation fully executed during my tenure. 

My departure came before I could see the vision through.

Perhaps, as I left, I hoped that the work would continue — and perhaps even go further than what we had imagined.

Today, sitting in a classroom in Edmonton, I realised something profound-

The vision was not wrong.

The 21st-century classroom is possible.

The 21st-century learner is already here.

Technology can change how young people learn, how teachers teach and how schools prepare students for the future.

And I was privileged today to experience it not as a policymaker, not as a reformer, but a Rotarian.

Through my work with Rotary, I now have opportunities to visit public schools and engage directly with students, teachers and school administrators.

That access has given me another perspective on education.

I was seeing a vision I once carried for Botswana come alive in front of me.

And perhaps that is the lesson.

Sometimes we don't get to see the seeds we plant grow.

Sometimes the work we do is not recognised in the moment.

Sometimes circumstances change, people move on, and opportunities are lost.

But that doesn't necessarily mean the vision was wrong.

Today reminded me that good ideas have a way of finding their time.

And perhaps, sooner or later, Botswana will have its own opportunity to fully embrace the kind of education system we once envisioned—one that truly prepares every learner for the world they are entering, not simply the world we inherited.

For me, today was more than a classroom visit.

It was a reminder of unfinished work, a vision that still matters, and a future that is still possible.

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