10 Dec 2015

Masunga Senior Secondary School Form Five leavers have been encouraged to hold their heads up and keep up with their faith to stand for any life situation they will come across.

This was said during a boot camp hosted by the Ministry of Education and Skills Development at the school recently,

Major Tshepo Scotch of 2^nd Military Garrison said failures, frustrations, limitations and anxiety could test an individual, but one needed to be strong. He encouraged the students to be resilient in every life situation they would come across since some would not be able to make it to tertiary, and were likely to come across tough circumstances.

Major Scotch said someone who was resilient demonstrates positive behaviour and does not run away because of challenges. He also encouraged them to learn to cope despite the difficulties they were facing. Furthermore, Major Scotch also said they have to understand a situation and what it means before they could react.

He said since they were teenagers, some of them would engage in challenges such as dating and that they were likely to experience hardships and break-ups. He said they should understand that whatever happens it would not mean it was the end of the world, but should rather look at life with a meaning and embrace every moment of it.

He said life was a struggle and that they should be prepared to find solutions to every situation that comes their way, adding that resilience differs from one person to the other and that it also examines one’s attitude.

Major Scotch also encouraged them to seek help from psychologists and other relevant people in case they experience any life threatening circumstances that they may fail to solve rather than committing suicide.

For her part, North East District principal education officer, Ms Gertrude Lowane also said they should identify their strengths and areas of growth, and that they should manage their emotions effectively which were complex to understand and could be expressed in different ways. She encouraged them to take control and manage their emotions and also encouraged them to appreciate and recognise their character's, strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes and change what needs to be changed.

When teaching them about emotional intelligence and self-awareness, Ms Lowane also urged them to assess themselves, introspect and do psychological tests and find self-disclosure in addition to interacting with diverse people, and that one should accept who they were and not imitate other people.

An educational psychologist, Mr Shingile Malibala also stated that since it was not everyone who would qualify for tertiary education, it was important to conduct boot camps to equip the students with life skills which would be handy in the future so as to help them cope and lay the foundation to their future. He said they also train them to familiarise them with different careers so that they could be knowledgeable of what they want to be.

Mr Malibala also encouraged them not to just make choices which their friends made but to look deeper on how their choices would benefit them, and that they should choose what they really like and enjoy doing.

One of the participants who was also a former deputy head boy, 18-year-old Gomolemo Mugibelo acknowledged the ministry for equipping them and giving them hope and life skills.

He said they were now prepared to face the world and stand up against whatever challenges come their way, and that they were not scared to fight for their lives.

He also said that he has learnt a lot about being resilient and self-awareness, something he needed to be equipped with. Ends