26 Sep 2016

Kgamane Primary School head in Shoshong, Ms Wada Majaha said she is worried by the number of children dropping out of school without any valid reasons.

Speaking during the school’s prize giving ceremony on Thursday, Ms Majaha said this year only they have lost five pupils, three in lower primary while the other two in standard five and seven.

She also said as the school, they have tried to make efforts in establishing the cause of dropping out by engaging the affected parents, adding that although efforts to re-admit the pupils this year were not fruitful, they have encouraged the parents to send them back to school in the coming year and hope the plea will be heeded accordingly.

Moreover, Ms Majaha encouraged parents to desist from the habit of not making follow ups with regards to their children’s education, advising them to always be active when it comes to the education of their children as it had direct impacts on the kind of lives they led in future.

Managing director of Food and Agricultural Research Mr David Tibe also expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of interest of some parents in education matters, which he said was evidenced by their poor attendance at the ceremony.

He also urged parents to play an active role by providing support to their children, saying this can lead to an increased number of excelling pupils as they would be motivated when they saw that indeed someone cared for their education.

Furthermore, Mr Tibe explained that for the education fraternity to succeed, participation of all relevant stakeholders being learners, teachers, parents and the community at large is crucial, since the absence of one party can negatively affect pupil’s academic performance thus advising both parents, teachers and learners to support each other and stand united in the drive for academic excellence not only in the school but nationwide.

He also implored the Shoshong business community to extend a supporting hand to schools and learners as by doing so they would be investing in future potential employees of their firms, hence saving money that would have otherwise been used in trying to train them when they have aged.

Mr Tibe also advised that for ceremonies of this kind to be a success, there is need to plan ahead of time so that all the necessary requirements could be identified and met while there is still time, thereby starting up a savings account for next year’s prize giving ceremony on the spot and encouraged all to add contributions to the P1 000 start-up capital he put forth. 

In giving closing remarks, Kgosi Felix Kgamane of Shoshong also encouraged residents of the village to work together because by doing so they gave each other the strength to drive for more while doing otherwise could only result in poor and unsatisfactory outcomes.

He gave an example of the Moshokga initiative which was started by councillor Mhutshiwa which aimed at rewarding the previous’ year excelling pupils of the village primary schools, adding that it was a great initiative, which if built upon could put Shoshong schools among the most excelling nationwide.

The prize giving ceremony was held under the theme: Stakeholder Collaboration; A Recipe for Quality Education. ENDS