20 Nov 2018

Parliament has been told that Makgadikgadi Junior Secondary School has so far used P300 000 for maintenance with part of these funds used in the kitchen.

Responding to a question asked by MP for Boteti East Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe Assistant Minster for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration Mr Thato Kwerepe said the school was originally fitted with cookers designed to use firewood and the school stopped using firewood earlier this year.

He said some industrial gas stoves were then fitted, but the capacity of the stoves was not commensurate with the size of the school, hence could not meet demand.

He said the school needed to replace the remaining wood stoves with electrical and gas stoves and the school was encouraged to continue the refurbishment.

The Assistant Minister also told the house that the sewarage system was based on septic tanks, which required frequent emptying as they fill quickly.

He said the school was planning to construct a new soak away to address the issue and additional funds would be released to the school for this once the cost is known.

On teachers’ accommodation, he said the school had expanded from 12-stream school to a 15-stream school, which had put pressure on the school in many aspects including staff accommodation.

He said in 2011/12 his ministry constructed four new houses in the school bringing the total to 27 against 43 teaching staff and all were sharing except the school head.

He added that his ministry remained challenged to provide sufficient housing in all of the schools and was currently looking into alternative methods of construction to expedite needs. MP for Boteti had wanted to know the condition of the kitchen, pots and sewage at Makgadikgadi JSS as well as teachers accommodation. ENDS