07 Dec 2015

Maisantwa Primary School in Kanye is one of the few select schools which were picked to pilot reception classes starting last year. The school started with four reception classes and the project is expected to round off in 2018.

In an interview , the school head Ms Naledi Tlagae said they registered 132 children during the maiden year who have since graduated this year. This year Ms Tlagae said they produced 145 graduates and explained that they were able to accommodate a large number because they had four vacant classrooms when they started.

However she explained that it was not easy when they started the classes because they did not have enough resources to teach children. “ As a result we came up with an agreement with parents that they contribute a hundred pula each so we could buy essential resources like books, crayons, and toys among others while awaiting the council to provide us with all the necessities,” she added.

She also revealed that parents were able to buy chairs for their children and provide a well-balanced meal for them every day to school. However, she explained that school had an arrangement to feed needy children whose parents did not afford the meals.

One of the teachers at the school Ms Leah Masilo said teaching reception classes required patience for a teacher to treat the children as if they were their own, adding “children would always be children.”

“A teacher is a parent substitute therefore one needs to have a good share of patience to deal with the children. They naturally like reporting trivial stuff happening inside the class just to get your attention,” She added.

Ms Masilo, a full time teacher who aspires to do at least a Diploma in early childhood education said she enjoyed being around the reception classes everyday. She said the qualification would enable her to continue teaching reception classes.

She also said she enjoyed the speed at which they applied themselves learning the syllabus. One of the parents Mrs Dianah Motsholapheko applauded government for the initiative adding it has prepared her child to start standard one although the child was only 5years old.

She said the initiative would afford many children access to a preschool almost for free, an opportunity some would not ordinarily have adding that most of the parents could not afford the services provided by private schools. ENDS