30 Mar 2017

President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama has urged the youth to refrain from indulging in alcohol and substance abuse.
Addressing Kopong residents March 30, President Khama said the two  were detrimental to their health.

President Khama was responding to Ms Kedibuetswe Majoro’s plea for advice on how she could help her peers to stop indulging in alcohol and substance abuse.
President Khama also explained the debilitating effects of alcoholism, saying it damaged the liver and caused harm to other organs.  

He also stressed that alcohol abuse was not only detrimental to one’s health, but that it also affected performance at work as well as finances.
President Khama added that it was disturbing to see the rate at which the youth consumed alcohol, saying some youth thought there could not be an entertainment without indulging in alcohol abuse.
President Khama explained that his government introduced the alcohol levy in 2008 as one way to curb alcohol abuse.

Giving an update on village developments, Kopong Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson, Mr Thato Rabepa expressed gratitude to the government for the Ipelegeng and poverty eradication programmes, saying they had uplifted people’s lives in their area. Mr Rabepa, however, complained that schools in Kopong were in a bad state.  

He also decried the shortage of classrooms in both primary and secondary schools, adding that it has resulted in schools not admitting a lot of pupils this year.
He added that toilets at Letsholo Primary School were also in bad state.  Furthermore, he said teachers’ accommodation was also a challenge.

Still on education matters, Kopong Junior Secondary School student, Ms Sharon Van Rooyen dismissed claims that poor results in their school was a result of crowded classes, saying  the problem was acute shortage of books.
Ms Van Rooyen said at times a class of 50 students was forced to share one textbook, especially in subjects such as moral education and French.  
She said some students were taught outside classrooms, adding that the lack of a school kitchen also contributed to the poor results.

“During rainy days students come to school late because there are no prepared meals in the school,” she informed President Khama.
Responding to comments, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Slumber Tsogwane informed residents that there would be no increase in the number of Ipelegeng workers this coming financial year.  
Mr Tsogwane said that was due to decreased funds from P612 million this financial year to P576 million in the coming financial year.

Kweneng regional education director, Mr Benson Rauwe said they took statistics of all textbooks of core subjects in primary schools because they were the most affected by the shortage of textbooks.  
Mr Rauwe said pupils who took text books home never returned them. He, however, said they expected to normalise the situation this coming financial year.
Meanwhile, President Khama donated chairs, a football kit, blankets as well as Bibles.

The Kopong VDC in turn gave President Khama their harvest in the form of water melons, sweet reed and squashes as a token of appreciation and a sign of a good harvest this year. ENDS