21 May 2018

Member of Parliament for Bobonong Mr Shaw Kgathi has implored parents to be on board by supporting their children in order to attain the status of good academic excellence around schools in the constituency.

Speaking during the excellence awards for the schools on May 18, Mr Kgathi noted that education needs to be approached in a holistic manner to include all stakeholders comprising of dikgosi, teachers, parents, business community to encourage learners to take their work seriously.

He said his dream was to see Bobirwa being a point of reference in academic excellence and to attain this, Mr Kgathi said this could only be possible through involvement of stakeholders.

Mr Kgathi also minister for Defence, Justice and Security implored learners to be committed to their school work and to not shy away from taking to task those teachers who do not teach them accordingly, including those parents who neglect them.

Having played a major role behind the awards, he said the intention was to ignite alumni to initiate a programme of role modeling within schools.

He said the event would be an annual event to motivate learners and teachers to do their best.

Conversely he said Bobirwa had produced a pool of talent in various fields and professions, urging teachers to consult them whenever they have challenges in teaching certain concepts as well as engaging those professionals to motivate learners.

He commended chairperson of World Group of Companies Mr Rafik Sadar for supporting the awards with P97 800 which had been channeled to prizes for deserving recipients.

He said P40 000 was used to buy 10 laptops, P20 000 spent on trophies, blankets and certificates for recipients, P28 800 as cash prizes for 73 recipients while P9 000 was used on catering and logistics.

The top three best students each received P1 000 cash, blanket and certificate at primary level, while at junior secondary and senior secondary the top three teachers also received prizes which included P1 000 cash, a certificate, blanket and a laptop.

They were also cash prizes for tertiary students for Bobonong Brigade.

For his part, Bobirwa sub district chief education officer Mr Moses Tshetlhana said it was important to recognise and appreciate those deserving as it promoted excellence.

“Setting targets is good. It motivates learners and staff and creates competition,” he said.

Concerning academic performance in the sub district Mr Tshetlhana stated that five primary schools managed to beat the 80 per cent national target with Lentswelemoriti Primary School continuing to maintain a 100 per cent pass mark.

He mentioned a slight improvement of an 8 per cent at junior certificate noting that the excellence awards would encourage staff and learners to attain positive results.

However he mentioned some challenges indicating that some parents still failed to attend to school meetings and defaulted in colecting school reports.

Matshekge PTA chairperson Mr Lesang Mokobi described the awards as a building block towards the bright future to learners.

He also thanked the sponsors World Group of Companies for supporting activities like this one.

“Matshekge has an enrolment of 1 600 students and only 300 parents turned up to collect reports and children cannot pass on their own,” he said. BOPA