26 May 2019

Minister of Basic Education, Mr Bagalatia Arone is optimistic that the availability of water at Good Hope Senior Secondary School would go a long way in improving the school’s academic performance.

The school, which has been having water problems since inception in 2008, has the history of performing badly over the years, obtaining a 10.9 per cent pass in the 2018 Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) results.

Speaking at the commissioning of two boreholes at the school recently, Mr Arone said the government was committed to equip schools with the necessary facilities and services to ensure a conducive learning environment.

He said the intention was to drill more boreholes in other big schools since shortage of water was a countrywide problem.

He said the commissioning of the boreholes at Good Hope senior, as well as the amount of money injected on the education sector in general, put more pressure on the school and the community to produce better results henceforth. 

He commended all stakeholders who worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the project.

Mr Arone urged parents to fully participate in their children’s education so that the whole system could work as one to beat existing challenges such as large class sizes and indiscipline. 

He also called for a mindset change by teachers to ensure a positive transformation of the education sector.

“There is a challenge of leadership in schools, but for us to manage pupils there is need for serious discipline by students, teachers and the community,” he said.

The school head, Ms Obusitswe Motlhageng applauded the government for addressing the water situation at her school. 

She said the high rate of transfer outs were largely due to water shortage, which impacted negatively on school results.

“The drop in student enrolment is partly due to the challenges the school experienced. 

Parents ended up transferring their children to other schools,” she said.

She said the availability of water would ensure that they retained good performers and ultimately improve the overall school results. 

Ms Motlhageng appealed to all stakeholders to work together towards a common goal of achieving excellence.

For his part, MP for Good Hope/Mabule, Kgosi Lotlaamoreng II urged the pupils to strive for re-instilling the dignity that the school had during its formative years. 

He discouraged them from getting involved in acts of indiscipline that had adverse effects on their academic performance. 

He applauded the government for funding such an essential project intended to alleviate water shortage at the school. ends