24 Sep 2017

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Slumber Tsogwane says there is need to address concerns and establish performance of schools.

Mr Tsogwane said this during a tour of Swaneng Hill School where he met with management to get an update regarding improvement of education.

He said it was critical for such issues to be addressed, adding that if not good performance would never be achieved.

“This is the second round of inspection which began last year as a result of poor academic results from the school, causing great concen,” he said.

Mr Tsogwane said results had deteriorated over the years, but were now promising as there were success stories in other schools.

He, however, said there were still challenges as the 2014 report indicated challenges in procurement, financial and record management as well as communication systems.

The minister said the procurement of books remained a major challenge in most schools, and that contributing factors were inadequate information and challenges with taking inventory.

He noted that there was unclear selection guidelines for core textbooks, and that up to now there was unavailability of prescription books for science, agriculture, social studies and home management.

“In this report, it had been indicated that books do not last due to poor quality material used and this reduces the lifespan of books hence resulting in shortage,” he said.

He said shortage of accommodation remained a concern, but noted that the issue was being addressed.

Swaneng Hill School head, Ms Gabalape Autlwetse said the school was committed to strive for excellence.

She, however, indicated that they had shortage of teachers for social studies, history and biology and were also without a photocopying machine.

“As much as we want to continue to excel, we acquire note books late due to late disbursement of funds from the ministry,” she said.

Ms Autlwetse also noted that most students did not return text books at the end of each grade, and that it was a setback for the school. ENDS