15 Jan 2018

Councillor for Lentsweletau East Ms Sesame Gabaraane on Friday called an emergency meeting involving teachers, parents and officials at the district commissioner’s office as well as those at the ministry of basic education for what she termed “a horrible state” that Motswakhumo Junior secondary school in Lentsweletau is in.

Councillor Gabaraane said the state in which the school was in could not continue anymore despite the many calls they have made requesting that the school be prioritised for maintenance as soon as possible.  

The current state the school is in is not conducive for both teachers and students.

She said the dormitory is in a bad state as students slept on the floor with worn out  beds and mattresses.  

The ablution as well is not functioning.

As a result, she said students took their bath in the open which was not safe especially for girls.  

The kitchen as well as laboratories are also in a terrible state.  

Motswakhumo school head Mr Edwin.Dipatane shared the councillor’s sentiments saying that the situation at the school was ‘very bad.’

He said the ablutions were ‘filthy’ and this has resulted in some students falling ill.

He said that the school on paper was a 15 -stream but on the ground was an 18 -stream.  

This situation he said “breaks the heart, what do we say to parents.”

Although cyclic maintenance of schools has been stopped, Mr Dipatane said that a tender was issued out last year for the school’s maintenance but nothing has been done to date to remedy the situation.  

He also stated that teachers commute from faraway places such as Borolong to school daily because of scarcity of accommodation.

Some teachers also shared the sentiments saying that most of them travel long distances to school on a daily basis and they are expected to produce good results.

Head of department for sciences, Mr Thapelo Samuel said that their laboratories are not equipped hence they cannot conduct any experiment.

One of the teachers Ms Boitumelo Ketlhoafetse requested that the relevant authorities request for some teachers to be accommodated at Block 7 in Gaborone in the flats built under Public Officers Housing Initiative indicating that they are willing to commute from there.

For his part, Kweneng District Commissioner Dr Themba Mmusi indicated the school is among the six  that had been prioritised for maintenance.  

An official from the ministry of basic education Mr Thatayaone Leburu said that funds for maintenance had been allocated but they have been asked to prioritise boarding schools, noting that Motswakhumo was among them.  

He said that the tender was advertised and evaluation was complete.

He said maintenance of the school will start at the beginning of the financial year and will include maintenance of staff houses, academic blocks, boundary fences, upgrading of the ablution blocks as well as access road. ENDS