22 Jan 2015

Member of Parliament for Ngami, Mr Thato Kwerepe, has appealed to parents in Somelo settlement to be actively involved in their children’s school work.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting, he reminded the parents that education was a fundamental international human right and that every child had a right to education.

This came after Khweeoseo Primary School emerged as the worst performing school in Ngamiland in the 2014 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results with a 7.7 per cent pass rate.

The meeting was informed that students absconded from school and play truant at an alarming rate, hence the poor performance. The parents said failure by parents to discipline their children also contributed to the poor performance.

It was also noted that some parents insult teachers and Parents Teacher Association (PTA) members who discipline students.

However, MP Kwerepe stressed that education was the only vehicle that could move impoverished people out of poverty and advised Somelo residents to collaborate with teachers and PTA members to discipline such pupils.

The school’s head, Ms Keabonye Maoto also appealed to the parents to cooperate with the school management to remove the embarrassment brought upon her by the poor results. Ms Maoto said the students abscond from school and stay in nearby ranches.

She however implored parents to work together with this year’s standard seven class, as the current performance stands at 57 per cent. ENDS