13 Sep 2016

A total of 127 learners in the Southern District dropped out of school between January and May this year compared to 526 such cases in 2015.
Southern District Council chairperson, Mr Mephato Reatile, said in his speech to mark the official opening of the full council session on Monday (September 12) in Kanye that out of the 127, 101 deserted school, two left due to ill health, 27 due to pregnancy while one student passed on.
He expressed concern about the growing trend of seasonal desertions that happened especially during harvest periods in Barolong farms adding that this had a negative bearing on learners.
“Honorable councillors, more boys dropped out than girls in 2016. About 49 males and 12 females dropped out at primary, 17 males and 28 females dropped out at junior secondary while three males and 12 females dropped out at senior secondary schools,” he said adding that two males and four females left school at Moshupa brigade.
That withstanding, Mr Reatile informed the full council that identifying perpetrators who impregnated students was a challenge because victims were not always ready to disclose them.
He said many a times victims desert schools as soon as they discover that they are pregnant.
The chairperson assured councillors however that it was the intention of the region to follow up learners, parents and community leadership on pregnancy cases, fully implement pastoral policy and hold consultative meetings on regular basis to stem the tide.
On academic performance, he stated that term two results were below regional targets of 62 per cent for Standard 4 and 80 per cent for Standard 7 respectively.
Mr Reatile said while Form 3 results were also below par as evidenced by overall performance by end of term two results, Mmanaana Junior Secondary School from Moshupa did well scoring 71.43 per cent while Tlhomo, Lotlaamoreng, Iphutheng and Nthwalang performance remained average. ENDS