21 Feb 2021

Consumption of drugs is reported to be rampant at Maitlamo Junior Secondary School.

A teacher, who is also a shop steward at the school, Mr Emmanuel Gaorengwe revealed this during a visit by the area MP, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile. Mr Kekgonegile was on a mission to give the school management a pat on the back for excelling in Junior Certificate examinations.

Maitlamo attained position one in the North West District with an overall pass rate of 42.4 per cent.

Mr Gaorengwe said the school could have done much better and that it was unfortunate as the majority of potential learners failed because they used to abscond from classes to abuse drugs.

He expressed concern that pupils were buying drugs from tuck-shops within the school vicinity. 

Mr Gaorengwe urged the village leadership to join forces with law enforcement agencies to fight drug and substance abuse in Disana ward.

Earlier the school head, Ms Selebatso Modisaemang said the school was newly opened and that they were aiming to improve results. 

The school, she said, had not done up to expectations but that they managed to increase As to seven as compared to the past three years where they had three As.

She also noted that their weakest link was Setswana as learners scored low marks. 

She said they were committed to assist staff in areas of specialty and ensure learners produced quality on optional and practical projects.

Ms Modisaemang noted other hiccups that affected their performance such as failure to complete the syllabus due to COVID-19 as they had to close the schools.

Learners, she said, found it difficult to pick up when they re-opened despite efforts by the Ministry of Basic Education to provide lessons through different platforms such as television and radio.

Furthermore, she said management had come up with strategies to improve performance, noting that the main focus would be on the current cohort.

The school head noted that a forensic academic audit was ongoing to determine the major cause of poor performance. 

She said they had parents and teachers meeting to set the tone and share expectations.

Ms Modisaemang pointed out that a decision had been reached to identify learners who got ABC grades from Primary School Leaving Examination with the aim of assisting them to perform better.

The learners, she said, would also be allowed to come up with topics across all subjects in which they felt they needed assistance. 

Some stakeholders, she said, had showed interest to join forces with the school and motivate learners.

For his part, Mr Kekgonegile expressed displeasure about some parents who destroyed children’s future by selling them drugs. 

He promised to engage law enforcement officers to follow the matter as the said parents were well known.

He commended staff members for showing commitment towards their work, noting that in other schools there was no such effort to improve results. 

The school’s pass rate, he said, was not satisfactory but that he believed that through strategies in place they could turn things around.

 Mr Kekgonegile urged teachers to go the extra mile, especially in the era of COVID-19, saying that they should ensure continuity in learning even if they were in isolation or quarantine centres.

He said it was worrisome as some teachers had taken advantage of the pandemic to miss classes. 

He also said they had assembled a team which was eager to offer tutorial services and advised management to organise themselves and invite some members of the team. ends