01 Apr 2014

Schools in Gaborone continue to perform badly despite being the most advantaged due to urbanisation.

Briefing councillors on the state of education in the southern region recently, chief education officer for schools, Ms Johannah Van Wyk said Gaborone did not promise a good picture for the future in terms of good results.

She cited that in senior secondary schools, Gaborone Senior Secondary School (GSS) which did very well in 2012 had gone down from 41 per cent to 28 per cent, while Naledi senior only improved by one per cent from 42 per cent. 

Ledumang Senior Secondary school was the only school that increased its percentage pass from 28 to 31. But nationally, Ms Van Wyk said the outstanding performance of the schools in Gaborone performed below par as compared to those from disadvantaged areas such as Maun and Masunga Secondary Schools. 

She said there had been a significant decline across all subjects except Home Economics, Agriculture and Music and that analysis in the decline of the results reveal that candidates were weak in core subjects. 

Regarding junior secondary schools, she said though Moselewapula Junior Secondary Schools in Gaborone was the second nationally after Orapa JSS in the diamond town of Orapa, most of the same schools in Gaborone did not perform up to the required standard. 

In primary schools, Ledumang increased its passing rate from 88 per cent to 100 per cent followed by Masa, Lesedi, Galaletsang and Ben Thema with 90 per cent plus. 

At the bottom is Therisanyo with 50 per cent plus pass rate

Ms Van Wyk explained that nationally, primary schools in the South obtained an 81 percent pass rate as compared to schools in the Northern part which took 82 per cent. 

She said all these schools right from the top (secondary school) need attention even though some of them might be doing well. 

She said parents do not track the performance of their children properly after they made a break through at primary level. 

She said in order to solve the problem, parents and teachers should track earners that cannot read and write for all levels on monthly basis and report on specific strategies for them as well as acting on non-performers. 

Commenting councillors unanimously agreed that the education system in Botswana had gone down drastically and that something need to be done. 

Councillor Ephraim Mabengano said since the 2011 public sector strike, there has been a decline in in the results of students in all levels of schools because of lack of teacher’s morale. Ends