31 May 2018

Working hard and devotion to learning should be the only pre-occupation of students, says Minister of Basic Education, Mr Bagalatia Arone.

Minister Arone said this during a visit to pupils at Kgabophuti Primary School and students at Diratsame Junior Secondary School and Moshupa Senior Secondary School.

Mr Arone, who grew up in the North West District, told pupils and students in separate meetings May 29 that they should take a cue from him and take control of their lives.

He said he had to travel about 14 kilometres to and from school daily in a donkey named “Two Five.”

The minister said together with his sister, they would ride to school on a daily basis to go and acquire education.

“Have control on what you do and achieve. Life is a journey. You need to know where you are going and prepare well in time for the journey you are about to undertake,” he said, when giving students basic life tips.

The minister called on students to keep at bay all negative influences such as drugs and engaging in sexual relationships. He said they could weigh down their education and wreck their future.

He warned that as the minister responsible for education he would not tolerate mischief from students.

“We want only students who are willing to learn to remain. We will send away undesirable elements from our schools. Of course this will be done after exhausting all available avenues,” he said.

Moshupa Senior Secondary School Students Representative Council (SRC) president, Mr Mompati Mosope pledged commitment on the part of students to learn and produce good results.

He said the school has introduced initiatives such as the morning study and study groups in an attempt to turn around BGCSE results for this year.

Diratsame SRC president, Mr Thabiso Ramachekane also promised Minister Aaron that his school has also come up with programmes aimed at improving results.

He, however, decried tyhe unavailability of Internet, lack of resources at laboratories and text books as among the hurdles towards achieving excellent results.

The minister promised that the ministry would do something about the students’ plight as a matter of urgency to create an enabling environment for students to thrive. ENDS