24 Feb 2019

The Ministries of Basic Education together with that of local government and rural development need to pull their resources together if the improvement of education is to be realised.

This came to light during the meeting between the two ministry officials and Kweneng primary school heads during a workshop in Molepolole recently.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, through the local councils, is responsible for providing primary schools  maintenance, stationary and feeding, among others.

Speaking during the workshop, Kweneng District council secretary Mr Goleba Kgari said councils acknowledged that schools in the district were faced with a shortage of classrooms, maintenance backlogs while in some villages, there was a need for construction of new schools.

He said the council had for the past three years been constructing additional classrooms in some areas such as Kopong and Mogoditshane through the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP).

Mr Kgari said some schools such as Serameng Primary School in Mogoditshane have exceeded their capacity, hence the need to construct additional ones.

Areas considered for new schools include Mogoditshane Block 9, Kumakwane and Kopong.

He said Molepolole should also have a new school, but is hampered by financial resources.

However, all is not gloom as a 22-classroom school is under construction in Mmopane through assistance from the Chinese community.

The council secretary said construction includes staff accommodation, library and a computer laboratory.

He also said the school once operational, was expected to relief to Serameng and other primary schools in the periphery.

Talking about maintenance, he said all the 91 primary schools in the district were in dire need of maintenance, but during 2018/19 financial year, they were allocated P57 million to maintain 31 schools.

He said there had been delays due to shortage of manpower, adding that in some instances the delays were caused by conflicts over tender awards.

Mr Kgari further said due to the overwhelming work, the council had engaged private consultants to inspect projects on their behalf.

He further appealed to the school heads to utilise the Handyman Programme by engaging locals in handling minor repairs, but added they needed to account for all the funds allocated to them.

The district is also faced with a shortage of staff accommodation and Mr Kgari said they would give the remote areas priority as there was no alternative accommodation to be used by the teachers.

Meanwhile, he said they were concerned about high water and electricity bills, and called upon the school heads to ensure that all water leaks were attended to. Ends