11 Oct 2018

Japan, through the Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Humanity Security Projects, will give Baratani and Motswasele junior secondary schools USD46 884 (P499 136) and USD46 250 (P492 387) respectively for construction of guidance and counseling blocks.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony on Wednesday, Ambassador of Japan, Mr Kozo Takeda, said the Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Humanity Security Projects supported projects aimed at addressing social problems at grass-roots level.

He said construction of the guidance and counseling blocks would help schools address high rates of school drop-outs and improve academic performances.

He said approximately 1 100 pupils would receive counselling and first-aid treatment at the new facilities.

Ambassador Takeda also highlighted that the gesture marked the 54th and 55th project for the government of Japan extended to Botswana through the grant scheme, as well as making Baratani school in Otse and Motswasele in Molepolole, the third and fourth junior schools to be recipients of the grants since the Japanese government started its assistance in Botswana in 1997.

He further noted that the guidance and counseling blocks would stand not only as the benchmarks of the friendship and cooperation of the two countries, but also as places where the pupils would feel free to share their challenges and enhance good academic results.

 For her part, chief education officer for South Region in the Ministry of Basic Education, Ms Rosalind Serumola, expressed gratitude for the kind gesture portrayed by the Japanese government through the grant.

She said lack of facilities forced guidance and counseling teachers to share facilities with other senior teachers from different departments, making privacy a difficult task for teachers to provide to pupils who needed counseling services.

She said Baratani JSS also faced other challenges such as school drop-outs due to teenage pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse and students’ indiscipline, which saw the school develop a joint partnership with the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) to help mould student’s behaviour.

She said the guidance and counseling blocks would however cement the commitment between the school and the PTA and help turn around the behaviour of students as well as help improve their academic performances.

Representing the Kweneng region, Motswasele Junior Secondary School head, Ms Segametsi Matlho, said the developments would go a long way in bettering the school and the community in which it existed.

She explained that most pupils in her school came from dysfunctional families and others were categorised as orphans and vulnerable children who needed counseling services, and as such, the facility would make a turning point for guiding social ills in a well-structured manner.

This year marked the 30th anniversary since the government of Japan introduced the Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Projects to 141 countries. ENDs