26 Oct 2016

Standard Chartered Bank donated furniture and physical education kit to pre-school pupils at Mmanoko Primary School on Sunday.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Standard Chartered country head-client relationship, Ms Saone Balopi, explained that in 2014 the bank had established a relationship with the school.

“This is the third time Standard Chartered bank has been helping the school. We are happy for donating a photocopying machine to the school in order to shorten distance travelled by teachers to Molepolole to photocopy,” she said.

Ms Balopi also stated that they had bought furniture such as tables and chairs suitable for pre-school pupils. She said the bank wanted to invest in this year’s pre-school class so that in eight years when they sit for their final Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) they can be able to reflect on the positive impact they have made.

She further said that they would love the current class to produce very good standard seven results in eight years. She however emphasised that this could only be achieved if parents as well as teachers and students partner to produce the desired results.

The bank has also donated a full physical uniform to the pre-school pupils in form of a pair of shoes, socks, shorts and a t-shirt.

Ms Balopi highlighted that one of the bank’s corporate social responsibilities was to identify needs in the community that they serve and extend a helping hand.

Mmanoko school head Ms Dorcas Mogapi thanked Standard Chartered bank staff for extending a helping hand to the school when they needed it the most. She mentioned that Mmanoko primary school is a small school with a rollout of 307 students, and 13 teachers.

She said the school has 12 classrooms and only one class is being taught outside as they had to make way for the reception class.

She cited that one of the major challenges the school had was that pupils travelled long distances to school despite harsh weather conditions. The pupils she said travelled about 10 to 15 km daily, adding that among those who travelled these long distances were pre-school pupils.

She stated that this was one major reason why the school performed poorly because students arrived at the school tired and during the rainy season, a good number of them do not come to school at all as they cannot cross over ponds and dams which during this time would have been filled up with water.

Other challenges the school had is shortage of equipment such as computers and a photocopying machine. As a result the school has been performing poorly for 3 consecutive years.

The results have dropped from 61 per cent ABC pass in 2012 to 37 per cent in 2015.

Head of department-infant Ms Batsalelwang Daniel mentioned that even though the school has not been performing well, Standard Chartered bank has been supporting them during prize giving ceremonies providing revision books as well as trophies for outstanding students for the past two years. ENDS