19 Apr 2018

Assistant Minister of Basic Education, Mr Thato Kwerepe has hailed some organisations and corporate entities for playing a vital role towards enhancement of the education system.

He made the remarks during the handing over of gifts from Mercy Hand Foundation Trust (MHFT) in collaboration with Vision Optical Centre from Gaborone who had donated spectacles and stationery to some Sehithwa Primary School pupils.

Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA) also donated five computers to the school to improve teaching and learning in the school.

MHFT had embarked on eye screening and testing, which activity saw 133 pupils from Sehithwa Primary School and some villagers benefiting.

Out of 133, only 10 pupils were given free spectacles and stationery while 28 elders were assisted with reading glasses.

Mr Kwerepe said government and the communities were concerned about poor results in schools and believed the donations would go a long way in improving the school’s performance.

He said a human being had different senses and eyesight/vision was one of the most important.

He said education today was inseparable from the development of human capital, noting that its importance could not be overemphasised.

Mr Kwerepe therefore thanked the trust for its noble gesture.

Education, he said, should be embraced as an avenue through which pupils could eradicate poverty and acknowledged the Trust and CEDA for their contributions, noting that their efforts were an indication that they valued the importance of education.

Earlier on, MHFT director, Mr Kabelo Rampe explained that the Trust was a charity organisation he formed together with his wife in 2016.

He said its objective was to care for and support vulnerable groups and also embark on charitable activities aimed at improving the livelihood of the communities.

He said so far, they had extended a helping hand to five villages, Sehithwa included.

Mr Rampe said they decided to embark on eye screening at the village because they believed that some pupils might not be performing well in their studies due to challenges of vision.

“Our screening indicated that most of the pupils have challenges due to allergies while a few needed glasses to improve their vision and one pupil had an infection. We donated glasses that would last for two years and we intend to continue assisting them,  funds permitting,” he added.

Mr Rampe also assured the beneficiaries more gifts if they excelled in their studies.

For his part, CEDA deputy chief executive officer, Mr Andrew Madeswi, who was the guest speaker at the hand over ceremony also appreciated efforts by the Trust, noting that at times people did not take eyesight seriously, hence the delay to get assistance on time.

He said statistics had indicated that 65 000 in the country were experiencing eye problems, noting that the number was alarming as some had not even done screening and testing.

He hailed the Trust for coming up with an initiative to screen people so that they were assisted on time and wished the nation could emulate such gestures.

Mr Madeswi said to augment the Trust’s efforts, his organisation found it fit to donate some computers to enhance technology among pupils.

The computers, he said, would assist teachers and pupils to bring about better results. ENDS