23 Sep 2018

Khurumela Primary School in Palapye has been commended for introducing the scout club as part of the school’s extra-curricular activities.

When launching the club on September 21, the area MP, Mr Moiseraele Goya, said scout helped mould pupils into responsible leaders.

“Scout is not about drilling rather it teaches the basic life skills and also instil a sense of discipline, responsibility and volunteerism and promotes patriotism on members,’’ he said.

Mr Goya, who is also the Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, praised the founder of Scout, Lord Robert Powell, for coming up with this concept which was adopted all over the world.

He said Botswana had benefited immensely from Scout through which the country had been able to produce responsible leaders who contributed positively to the economy of the country.

He noted that Lord Powell observed a gap in the education system and made a sacrifice to help his country and the world over to reduce the gap.

“’Lord Powell realised that the education that was provided at the time did not produce a well-rounded child who could face life challenges, therefore, introduced Scout to fill up this gap. He took education outside the classroom and imparted basic life skills on the youth, teaching them to love and care for one another,” he said.

Mr Goya commended Khurumela Primary School for adopting the initiative saying it would help mould the students and ultimately improve students’ academic results.

Scout, he said, also promoted physical, intellectual, social and spiritual development as well as the spirit of patriotism and volunteerism.

He said a scout always strived to do something for his or her country thus encouraging other schools to emulate Khurumela Primary School by introducing scout in their respective schools.

Mr Goya, however, raised a concern that Scout was gradually dying to call for Scout Association to work hard to resuscitate the movement.

He said the reason this country was grappling with issues of moral decay amongst the youth was that the youth had not been exposed to clubs such as scout.

He said this had also affected the spirit of self-reliance, resulting in the culture of dependency on the government.

“It is not too late to promote the spirit of self-reliance amongst the youth through Scout,” he said.

The school head, Ms Sethando Tsopito, promised to give the club all the necessary support.

She said the scout club had already started projects in school which would not only help to mould them into responsible students but would also touch the lives of other students.

The club has received a positive response from both teachers and students. ENDS