05 Dec 2017

An official from North West Regional Education, Ms Didimalang Mmemo says placement of students for junior secondary schools is determined by the availability of facilities for students.

Ms Mmemo said school facilities were built for a certain number of students and that some junior schools in Maun were old and had not been upgraded to cater for the current needs.

She was responding to concerns from some Maun Administration Authority (MAA) councillors who had complained that students were placed far from their wards for Form One.

She observed that some schools such as Moeti and Tsodilo were not upgraded and were viable for a lesser number of students while the new Maitlamo Junior Secondary School had facilities and furniture for many students and that Tshawaragano Junior Secondary school was only recently upgraded to improve its capacity.

Ms Mmemo informed councillors that availability of resources such as classrooms, laboratories and furniture was the determining factor for students’ placement.

She said parents were encouraged to liaise with school heads if the student placement was not favourable to the parent.

She said it was unfortunate if the placement negatively impacted some parents and students to that extent.

Ms Mmemo advised that the leadership should encourage parents to appreciate the issue of placement and to ensure students schooled properly.

“The student population is increasing therefore it is not possible for junior secondary schools to accommodate them all unlike primary schools,” she said.

Some MAA councillors raised concern about students placed at distant junior schools for Form One instead of their catchment areas.

Councillor for Kgosing, Mr Galaletsang Mhapha said students in his area, especially those in Thito and Kgosing, were placed as far as Sedie Junior Secondary School which required the students to use public transport four times a day.

He said some parents could not afford transport fares and that about four students had dropped out of school due to the situation.

He queried that students could have been placed in nearby junior secondary schools to avoid such problems. BOPA