27 Jan 2019

Acting education director for Southern region Mr Myson Mbuso says the region has recorded a 2.8 per cent improvement in the just released Junior Certificate Examinations results.

 He said the region, which comprised five sub-regions, obtained 34.9 per cent for the ABC grades as compared to 32.1 per cent in 2017, and further noted that they had observed a great improvement in schools such as Tlhomo, Ntebogang and Lotlaamoreng, which recorded an improvement of 15.7, 14.4 and 12.6 per cent respectively.

He however said that even though Kgosi Mpe and Pitikwe were among the top five in the region, their performance had declined as compared to 2017.

“Kgosi Mpe has been doing very well despite this year’s 6.9 per cent decline.

Pitikwe has been doing well, but it’s 9.8 per cent decline is quite significant,” he said.

Mr Mbuso attributed the improvement in some schools to regular visits by the inspectorate and inservice teams, whose mandate was to support and advise on strategies that could be employed to improve results.

He said such visits had borne fruit and they intended to do more even to schools in rural areas.

He noted that they were planning a meeting with other stakeholders to evaluate the results and come up with strategies that could help improve results in schools that are lagging behind such as Mogale in Khakhea, which obtained the lowest in the region at 10.6 per cent pass.

The chief education officer for Jwaneng/Mabutsane sub-region Mr Abrahm Mollowamodimo said one of the contributory factors to poor performance in some schools was vacant posts that took long to be filled.

He said even though vacant posts were filled, some teachers took long to resume duty, especially at rural areas.

For her part, the principal education officer, In-service Ms Sylvia Kwape said some teachers were reluctant to do lesson preparations even though the process was a crucial aspects of teaching.

She said they always encourage teachers to plan for lessons to ease  teaching and learning.

“We encourage them not to rely entirely on their experience, but to keep researching and be up-to-date with the latest concepts,” she said. ENDS