11 Nov 2015

The principal education officer  (In-service) says  pre-primary education is very critical in laying foundation for the formal education. 

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for reception class in Motalaote Lekhutile primary school, Ms Lerato Mokomane said pre-primary education was important in familiarising students with the school environment.

Ms Mokomane said the main objective of the pre-primary education by the government was to foster and enhance child development. 

She stated that education at that stage was offered through play and engaging children in fun activities. 

She said in the past standard one was a hectic exercise with children not knowing what was expected of them as students. 

She added that a lot of time was spent on familiarising students with the school which delayed the teaching and learning process. 

The pre primary education according to Ms Mokomane targeted children who were four and half years old so that they could start standard one when they were five and half years. 

Mokomane stated that the programme had benefited most of the parents who could not afford to take their children to private pre- schools. Ms Mokomane added that the idea of pre- primary education was also to enhance the notion of inclusive education and schooling. 

The pre-primary framework learning ideas according to Ms Mokomane were personal, emotional and social development. Language development and early literacy, mathematical and scientific thinking were also at the fore front of the initiative, said Mokomane. 

Through this programme according to Ms Mokomane, children would develop an understanding and appreciation of who they were. 

This would be in terms of self awareness, emotional development and interaction with others, she said.

 The education official further added that through pre- primary education, children would develop their language skills . 

This, she said would enable children to communicate effectively and to facilitate learning in other areas. 

Children would develop gross and fine motor skills, creativity and appreciate beauty through art, Ms Mokomane continued. 

Ms Mokomane emphasised the role of parents in children’s education saying parents were critical partners in education especially of young children. 

She added that parents were children’s first educators. She encouraged parents to liase with schools in order to understand more about their children’s learning needs and also to give information about the child to the school. 

Ms Mokomane encouraged parents to ensure that children were well and healthy by providing for them the basic necessities of life. Parents teaching children appropriate manners and respect for others was very important according to Mokomane. 

They should be good role models, she said. 

Effective parents instill high moral standards through guidance and spending quality time with their children, she alluded. 

Mokomane stated that parental involvement in their children’s education could be by means of participating in extra- curricula activities such as school fund raising and sports. 

She added that it was acceptable for parents to supply a school with material things as a way of being involved in the education of their children.

For his part, councillor Lesego Raditanka of Kgosing ward said the pre-primary education initiative came after the Kedikilwe commission. He said the government adopted the initiative after realising the importance of pre- primary education. 

Mr Raditanka added that  government also considered the fact that not all Batswana parents could afford to take their children to private schools for pre- primary education. 

The school head, Ms Mirriam Mpelega said her school was nominated in 2014 to undertake the pre-primary education initiative. 

She said this was due to the fact that they had ample space and some of their classrooms were under- utilised. 

Ms Mpelega stated that it was however difficult to undertake such a programme since they were faced with lack of resources such as furniture. According to Mpelega parents were also determined to see the programme becoming a success and hence their input could not go unrecognised. Ends