22 Jun 2015

Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Unity Dow has asked members of Ntlo-Ya-Dikgosi to ensure that the community takes responsibility of their children’s education.

Addressing Dikgosi on June 18, she said the ministry believed that community or parent mobilisation fell within their sphere of influence or mandate and as such, they should use their positions to preach discipline in children that should start from home through the parents.

She said chiefs are the custodians of villages and as such they should ensure that they also take a lead inculcating certain values within members of the community at large in effort to fight indiscipline in schools.

She informed Dikgosi about the ministry’s strategy to bring sanity and dignity in public schools which she said Dikgosi should play a role, saying a simple step in the right direction is to ensure that basic social values are apparent in everyday aspects of school.

Dr Dow said such things as adherence to school rules and regulation and owning the school property by ensuring that vandalism of property does not prevail should be encouraged amongst learners.

The minister said children should be taught from home to co-exist in harmony with other learners and exhibit tolerance in the school environment.

Other interventions to address moral decay in schools would include engaging school management in the vetting, registration and monitoring of hawkers within the schools surroundings.

She said schools will also introduce Student Crime Prevention Committees that will do random check-ups of drugs and harmful objects. 

This, she said will be piloted in junior and secondary schools.

On vandalism of property, she said the ministry intends to introduce the principle of break and replace so that perpetrators take charge.

Dr Dow said for learners to own the school property, they will be engaged in minor works such as painting and mending the broken locks and replacing sockets so that outsourcing of minor works is minimised.

For their part, Dikgosi welcomed the idea and vowed support for the ministry initiatives. Some suggested that automatic succession be discontinued as it escalates the poor results.

Kgosi Galeakanye Modise of Tswapong Region suggested that heads of departments be excused from teaching as they have a role to ensure they supervise other staff members and handle issues of students and teacher welfare grievances.

He also spoke against boot camps that they should be discontinued as some students used them negatively.

Kgosi Mosadi Seboko of Balete proposed that parents be taught parenting skills through Parents and Teacher Associations.

Kgosi Letso Malema of Bobirwa region said parents-teacher ratio was worrisome and that corporal punishment should be re-introduced while Kgosi Colly Cock of Thamaga region said parents were blank as to why they sent their children to school. ENDS