22 May 2016

Children are what this country needs to move forward and parents need to know that they play a leading role in encouraging them to attend school.

This was said by First National Bank Botswana-Mahalapye branch manager, Ms Lalah Mosetlhi during the donation of 278 pairs of school shoes through the FNBB Foundation to Moralane Primary School on May 19.

Ms Mosetlhi said parents needed to ensure that their children went to school, do their assignments, read and participate in extracurricular activities so that they exceled.

She noted that as FNBB Foundation they recognised that a child was not just the responsibility of the biological parents alone but that of the entire community.

She explained that they worked in partnership with communities to ensure that children were appropriately taken care of so that they grew up to be responsible citizens of the country.

She said the well-being and security of children was a top priority constantly being deliberated upon by trustees of the FNBB foundation, adding that it was the bank’s corporate social responsibility trust fund established in 2001 for the sole purpose of aiding beneficiaries who were in need and deserving of assistance, with the key areas being orphans and vulnerable children.

Ms Mosetlhi said the bank contributed up to one per cent of its tax profits to the foundation annually and today the foundation was one of the biggest corporate donors .

She said over the years, FNB had touched the lives of the communities within which it operated and through the foundation it had channeled the desires of the people to lend a helping hand through the Staff Volunteer Programme which allowed staff members to identify projects within which they worked and volunteer time and skills to help the project realise its objectives.

For his part, principal education officer Mr Keobopile Kedikilwe applauded FNBB for the gesture. He said for the education sector to succeed, it needed different stakeholders to come on board, adding that by also doing they would be motivating students to take their education seriously and do better. ENDS