25 Mar 2013

 

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Dr Gloria Somolekae has applauded students and teaching staff of Kgosi Mpe Junior Secondary School for their outstanding performance in the 2012 Junior Certificate Examinations (JCE).

The school obtained position one in the Southern region and position nine nationally after scoring a 96.2 per cent overall pass rate for grades A, B and C.

Last year’s performance showed a 7.2 per cent improvement from the previous year, which stood at 88.99 per cent.

Speaking at an event to the celebrate the results, as well as handover of a school hall donated by Debswana Jwaneng Mine over the weekend, Dr Somolekae noted that the contribution of the students, teachers, non-teaching staff and parents needed to be acknowledged because the school’s performance was a collective effort.

She pointed out that Kgosi Mpe School had managed to maintain their position at the top regionally for the past 12 years despite several challenges the school was facing.

“I am quite aware that teachers are faced with the task not only of delivering a curriculum, but of managing students from diverse backgrounds and family situations.

Teachers are further challenged by the emerging social issues, where some students are without critical family support and where there are behavioural challenges which need to be addressed,” she said.

Nonetheless, Dr Somolekae noted that the government, through the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, was doing all it could to provide support to teachers and students so that they could produce good results.

She said initiatives such as the Excellence Awards and High Achievers Awards were some of the ministry’s on-going efforts to encourage both students and teachers to strive to do better in learning and teaching.

“Some students have already started their scholarships overseas under this arrangement.

Thus with hard work and commitment, top achievers from this school may, after completing their secondary education, benefit from these awards,” she explained.

Furthermore, Dr Somolekae commended Debswana Jwaneng Mine for the donation of a school hall worth over P600 000, which she said, was in line with the government’s Adopt-a-School Initiative.

She urged the company to continue making an impact in Jwaneng and its surrounding communities with its Corporate Social Responsibility programme. ENDS