20 Sep 2018

Minister of Basic Education, Mr Bagalatia Arone has expressed gratitude to the private sector for playing a meaningful role in education.

Speaking during a donation event at Gakuto Primary School organised by Sefalana Hyper Stores on  September 18, Mr Arone said they were extremely happy to see the private sector joining hands with government, adding that education remained a priority not only for government but for the nation.

He also said basic education remained government's commitment, hence a fair share of the budget was allocated towards the sector this year.

Minister Arone expressed gratitude to Sefalana Hyper Stores for the momentous donation.

He said as government considered education a tool to shape desirable citizens for the future, it was critical to ensure that the education system was relevant even to the global village that ‘we all live in’.

He stressed that the education system that government desired was one that shaped independent individuals, who can turn the fortunes of the country around and not depend on government to create employment for them.

The minister also challenged school authorities to open up the schools for all to participate.

“We want to open up the schools to a number of ideas,” he said, adding schools can be handed over to independent organisations such as churches to run while government took care of the curricula, which he said might help address issues of delinquency.

He thanked Sefalana for imparting business skills to the learners by introducing a tuckshop at the school, adding learners should fully participate in it to harness the much needed business skills.

Sefalana Hyper Stores general manager, Mr Clifford Setlhabi explained that every year his company explored ideas and identified places where it can make a difference as a way of giving back to the community, hence their decision to assist Gakuto primary with donations amounting to P60 000.

The company donated all the prizes and food for the upcoming prize giving.

One of the noteworthy prizes was the P1 000 cash that was awarded to the best performing Standard Seven pupil.  

The money would be used to buy that pupil uniform and stationery at a junior school next year.

Sefalana Hyper Stores has also constructed a shelter that would be used as a reading corner as well as a school tuckshop to help pupils raise funds for the school.

The school head, Ms Elizabeth Letsholo said the school was opened in 1979, but it was only in 1981 that the first two blocks of classrooms were built.

It currently has an enrollment of 518 pupils with 19 teachers and 11 non-teaching staff.

She also shared that the school had not been able to attain the 80 per cent quality ABC national target, but instead it had been sitting on an average of 53 per cent. ENDS