27 Jun 2019

North West District has continued to record high rate of school dropouts, truancy, desertion and pregnancies.

The district recorded 138 cases of school dropouts, 78 desertions, 26 cases of truancy, 22 cases of pregnancy and two of lack of parental care from January to April this year.

In an interview, the department of education’s public relations officer in the district, Mr Lesley Kehitile explained that a large number of pregnancies continued to be recorded in senior schools compared to junior schools, while many cases of truancy were recorded at primary schools.

He reported that Maun Senior Secondary School had 11 dropout cases, Shakawe had two, while Sedie junior recorded three cases.

The most affected primary schools were Xaixai with seven cases, followed by Shamombo Kushonya School in Etsha 7 with five and Gxhabara with four.

Other schools were Ghani, Sepopa, Bodibeng, Etsha 6, Khweeosee, which all recorded one case each, with the most affected pupils being males. Two cases of dropout due to lack of parental care were registered at Komana school, he said.

Mr Kehitile also revealed that a high number of desertions were noted in junior schools as compared to primary schools. 

The schools, which recorded the highest numbers, were Etsha 6 with 10, followed by Moeti, Tsodilo and Gowa with seven cases each. 

Sedie JSS, he said, recorded six cases, Okavango five and Maitlamo, Ngambao, Shakawe and Sekgoma recorded three cases each. 

Affected schools were Tawana and Qangwa, which registered three cases each, while Tlhale and Gani schools recoded two and one respectively.

Mr Kehitile pointed out that the department had come up with interventions such as intensified guidance and counselling sessions for leaners to appreciate the benefits of education and infusion of survival skills education across all subjects.

Other interventions include infusion of comprehensive sexuality education programmes to address issues of pregnancy and HIV/AIDS and encouraging those who had dropped out to re-enroll on the back to school programme, he said.

He said the department was also making efforts to engage and address parents through different fora on the importance of child care and children’s rights, adding that weekly motivation talks by different stakeholders such as social workers, police and guidance and counselling teachers were also conducted. Ends