01 May 2017

Parents who neglect their children’s school work will soon appear before the Balete chieftainship to answer for their failures.

Those who fail to collect their children’s report cards and failing to appear when summoned by schools authorities in the tribal territory will soon defend themselves before bogosi.

Balete deputy chief, Kgosi Tsimane Mokgosi cautioned parents during a kgotla meeting recently that bogosi would not take kindly to parents and guardians who fail their children.

He noted that the tribal leadership had not been actively involved in school issues, as they were left with school authorities to deal with them. However, he said degrading academic performance and learners’ ill-discipline called for bogosi to act and hold parents accountable for their children’s acts.

He said bogosi had been engaging with school and other stakeholders to see what could be done to address some of the challenges faced by schools in the area, which ultimately contributed to poor academic performance.

Kgosi Mokgosi said the behaviour of some parents and guardians was a contributing factor to the indiscipline, adding that such parents needed to be called to order.

 “Do not be surprised when you get a letter summoning you to our office,” cautioned Kgosi, who added that bogosi was concerned about students’ poor academic performance and lack of parental involvement.

 He said bogosi had advised schools to report to the tribal office parents who were not reporting to school authorities when summoned or were neglecting students.

Kgosi Mokgosi said students ought to be neat and presentable at all times, adding that it was up to parents and guardians to ensure that students were supported in their academic career.

Furthermore, he added that Ramotswa schools have started boot camps to address problems of indiscipline in schools.

One parent, Ms Josephine Rantau welcomed the decision by bogosi to be more involved in addressing issues relating to school performance and parental negligence of education of their children.

Ms Rantau noted that parents have a duty to stand up for their children and support them.

While other parents blamed fellow parents for children’s ill-discipline and noted that children learned from them.

Parents were also blamed for distributing drugs within school premises, hence destroying children’s future. ENDS