10 Mar 2015

Selebi Phikwe Senior Secondary (SPSS) celebrated 40 years of its existence on March 7.

The school's alumni, Justice Godfrey Nthomiwa encouraged students to work hard to achieve excellent results. Justice Nthomiwa, who was a guest speaker, said SPSS was a great school that showed commitment to its core mandate. He attended the school in 1979.

He said many former students who had walked out of the gates of SPSS made a great contribution to the advancement of Botswana. The event, he said, was meant to encourage the coming generation of what a determined and focused school was capable of achieving.

He told students that, “a student from SPSS should be associated with hard work, excellence, self-respect and respect for teachers and Botho.” Justice Nthomiwa said it was his deep desire that SPSS could become a center of excellence, with a good and reputable image, proud tradition and remembered as a place where future leaders of the country are bred.

Giving a motivational speech, Ms Lerato Mosetlhanyane told students that for them to go far in life they should work hard and that their future should not be determined by their background. 

“The choices you make can break or make you. I encourage you as students and young people to choose friends wisely as good friends have a positive influence. You should have hunger for success in life and understand that life is not a dress rehearsal but a real thing, hence the need to aim far beyond the sky,” she said.

Meanwhile, hardworking and deserving students were awarded with certificates and laptops. Tshegofatso Mabango won ‘The Log Raditlhokwa Award of Excellence,’ Wendy Vaonga Virore won herself a Maths and Science Award and a laptop courtesy of Mr Mompoloki Lewis who is an alumni member.

A Leadership certificate and a laptop sponsored by PINNSLEAD went to Minniehle Mavuma. Other students who have leadership qualities such as the head boy, head girl and Scripture Union leader received lunch vouchers to enjoy meals at Spurs.

It was in 1974 when school project was conceived and developed, while construction work started in 1975 and within the first two years of the first phase of the mordant facility of the school with boarding facilities was ready for use and it admitted students from form 1 up to 5.

In 1991, it was elevated to a senior school qualifying to admit only form 4’s and 5 and it now has an enrolment of 1680 students and 42 classes. Its performance is sterling because in the past five years it had been in the top five. ENDS