05 Oct 2014

Tutume McConnell College school head, Mr Watson Basoli has described the school’s prize giving day as a platform to reflect on how they are proceeding with the school mandate and share achievements and failures with stakeholders.

Speaking at the prize giving ceremony recently,  he said it was common knowledge that the school had in the past produced good results, something that of late was not the case. 

He said the school performance was declining every year but they promised to improve the situation this year as they had been working hard with students to produce better BGCSE results.  Mr Basoli said learners should be motivated and committed to their school work in order to produce good results. 

Furthermore, he stated that a good number of students lack focus, their priorities are not in the right order and this is seen by the rate at which they skip lessons and fail to complete assigned work. He said that some have decided to indulge in drugs and substance abuse but said the school is doing its best to address the situation. 

The school head said the majority of teachers at the school are doing their best and even go to the extent of sacrificing their time to assist students when the need arises. 

Addressing the issue of meaningful parental involvement or interest in student’s academic work, he said that the majority of parents do not associate with the school very well. 

“It is very rare to see a parent appointing with teachers to discuss their children’s performance. We never get feedback from parents with respect to students’ performance,” he said. 

He also stated that parents do not pay Parents Teachers Association (PTA) levies, which makes it hard to come up with major projects aimed at aiding students’ learning.

Mr Basoli said that the school has not yet been adopted and urged private companies to come forward to adopt the school to assist in providing quality education to ensure the realization of the Vision 2016 pillar on education. 

He stated that there are many promising students in both Form 4 and 5 who are going to put the school back on the map.

The guest speaker, Mr Cedric Sam, who is the mine manager of African Copper said that they take education seriously and their doors are always open to assist the school where possible to produce good results. 

He said students should work hard to achieve their goals and must be willing to learn more from their teachers.

Mr Sam told them not to let other things such as poverty disturb them from doing well but rather find solutions to those problems to improve their results. 

He encouraged those who did not receive prizes not to be discouraged but continue studying hard and said they should show that they are responsible students by not engaging in drugs and alcohol and avoid social networks such as Facebook and Twitter as they waste their time instead of studying.

When addressing the students, 800 metres Commonwealth champion and former student, Mr Nigel Amos encouraged them to work hard to achieve their goals. 

He said that students tend to waste the two years they spend in the school due to peer pressure, adding that getting education should be the main goal of every student in the school and teachers are always available to assist where possible. 

Mr Amos said they must respect their teachers so it can be easy to approach them for advice and guidance. 

He also encouraged all those who have talents to use them as careers, noting that sports can be used as a career. Mr Amos advised those who took prizes to continue working hard in their studies and pass their BGCSE exams with good results. Ends