06 Feb 2020

Kang based Matsha Community College has been applauded for the impressive academic performance registered in the 2019 BGCSE.

In the just-released results, the school made a major turnaround as they settled to be among the top four by attaining 38.75 per cent pass.

In the past five years, Matsha College was synonymous with a poor academic performance, which placed the school in position 32 with 10.2 per cent out of 34 senior secondary schools countrywide in 2015.

 In 2016, they attained position 31 with 13.3 per cent while in 2017 they were on position 33 with 11.55 per cent. 

It was in 2018 when a slight improvement was realised as they rose to position 25 with 20.2 per cent.  

In an interview with the school head Mr Tshokologo Dineo, he reminisced that in its early years, the school was admired by many for its outstanding performance, but with time things took a wrong turn.

He said when he joined the school in 2017, it was a tough call as he found the once adored school in a disturbing state and misfortunes, citing the truck accident that claimed lives of seven pupils as well as notorious deeds that reduced the college facilities, kitchen, dining hall and the science laboratory to ashes.

Mr Dineo noted that all the misfortunes tarnished the school image, thereby leading to loss of confidence in the school by some parents. 

He said the parents ended up transferring their children to other schools, something he said left a void.

Following the negative turn of events at the school, he said together with the school management, teaching and non-teaching staff, they embarked on a plan, which would bring winds of change to the school.

He explained that from the 2017 admissions, they had 272 students with two students having obtained grade A, 27 had obtained grade B, 124 had grade C while 119 had obtained grade D.

He said they committed themselves to ‘turn lemons into lemonade’ by working tirelessly to change academic performances and mould them into accountable pupils.

The school head said they observed that most of the pupils had performed well at primary schools, but performed badly at the junior level. 

Mr Dineo said having considered that, they monitored the pupils’ performance closely by engaging them in one-to-one meetings with teachers regularly to encourage them to work hard to improve their grades, the exercise that bore fruit.

To turn things around, Mr Dineo said they made pupils behavioural change their priority as they formulated pupils’ positive behavioural codes that encouraged elements of Botho, responsibility and excellence.

He added that the introduction of boot camps also aided in shaping their pupils’ behaviour.

He further said once they were satisfied with the students’ behaviour, they moved on to prepare staff members to discharge their duties diligently despite working under undesirable working conditions.

Mr Dineo said they put in place performance monitoring tools for both teachers and pupils that called for monthly assessments, thereby aiding both of them to put more effort into their work.

He said a pupil performance monitoring code that allowed their performances to be kept in checks throughout the term was also developed. 

This, he said, allowed them to monitor signs of regress which they addressed by assigning teachers to work closely with pupils to motivate them.

As for teachers, he said they were implored to have lesson plans, which guaranteed them the maximum time of their teaching as they were able to keep up with the syllabus and allowed them ample time to revise with pupils.

He further said the teachers’ accounted for pupils’ results as they were also assessed every month and that encouraged teachers to put more efforts into their duties.

On other issues, he lauded parents, kgosi and other legislators who worked collectively with them in their quest to turn around things at Matsha College.

Moreover, he said despite the school challenges that were beyond his control such as lack of promotion for teachers and dilapidated facilities, he commended his staff for their endless efforts to produce better results. He also noted that to motivate their teachers they have in-house awards for best performing teachers. 

He also extended appreciation to Matsha alumni who sponsored the best performing teachers’ awards in the previous years.

Kgosi Basadi Seipone had also applauded Matsha College staff and management for their outstanding performance.

She said the community had a harmonised working relationship with the school, something she said helped in the school attaining better results. 

She extended appreciation to the school head, who showed great leadership skills to turn the school around.

She described him as the ‘Moses’ who helped the school to break away from the bondage of ill behaviour and other negativities that surrounded the school.

On behalf of the parents, Ms Kebilediwang Balefi appreciated the school management for their commitment to regain the school’s dignity after such a long time of despair.

Ms Balefi also applauded the parents for the endless support they rendered to the school and urged them to continue with that spirit for better results in the coming years.  ENDS