07 Mar 2021

When pupils across the country sat for their Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations last year, the trio of Onkabetse Seremane, Bofelo Tshekoetsile and Shawleen Zibako had something up their sleeve other than passing the examinations with flying colours.

Theirs was a promise to reclaim the history of Seepapitso Senior Secondary School academic performance. 

The three top achievers attributed their splendid performance to both the intrinsic and external factors. 

Onkabetse obtained seven A* and three As thus garnering 48 points. 

 She drew her inspiration from her parents who were not educated, but did their utmost best to ensure that she acquired quality education by facilitating her learning process. 

She also credited the motivational talks often given by the school management before lessons saying they were a motivation to do better.

Onkabetse said just like the school management, she was not happy with the school’s academic performance over the years.

  “We promised to do everything in our power to improve the academic performance,” said Onkabetse whose wish is to be a medical doctor specialising in neurology.

 She said despite disruptions of learning activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her self-drive attribute catapulted her to work on her own to make up for the lost time in addition to the extra lessons provided by teachers.

Onkabetse’s mother, Ms Tshegofatso Seremane, said her daughter had always been committed to school work and strived to do better in everything that she laid hands on.

She described her as an A pupil from her days at primary school to secondary level. 

Another top achiever, Bofelo Tshekoetsile who obtained six A*, two As and one B also garnering maximum points of 48 said he worked hard to improve his results knowing well that his achievement would also do the school well.

Bofelo said he capitalised on group work or study, which did not only help to helped to improve his interpersonal skills but added a lot of value to the learning process.

He argued that no man was an island, pointing out that learning was a reciprocal process since high performing pupils could learn from average counterparts and vice versa is true.

He said study groups yielded results, emphatically pointing that all seven members of his group obtained above 40 points.

He intended to do mechanical engineering to fill capital development gaps and reduce reliance in other countries.

Bofelo advised pupils to stay focused and not to be swayed by trivial things, adding that respect for others and remaining focused were ingredients for high performance.

He said they should never write-off any subject as difficult and should treat all subjects with the same love.

Bofelo’s mother, Ms Sarah Tshekoetsile, said her son was well behaved and did domestic chores.

She said Bofelo obtained grade B in PSLE and JCE, adding he was always among top-performing pupils garnering awards in physical education and.

Shawleen Zibako obtained six A*, two Bs and one D thus hitting the roof of 48 points. 

He said his parents did their level best by creating a conducive learning environment for him looking at their efforts which eventually paid off.

Shawleen also paid homage to his two teachers; Messrs Kutemwa Sechinga for Additional Maths and Hudson Tlole of a Biology whom he said had always been motivational through their folklore stories, which taught pupils that one could move from a disadvantaged background to being at the top.

He said his dream to become a euro-space engineer and drive for excellence motivated him to study hard to achieve his vision.

Shawleen implored those still in the learning process to stay committed saying one day they will enjoy the fruits of their toil. 

Mr Charles Zibako stated that his son compared favourably to the best in the country. 

He recalled that  Shawleen had always attained As during his primary school days at Segopotso and Ngwaketse Junior Secondary School.

“At Segopotso, he always obtained position one in class which he maintained up to JC level.  At Ngwaketse he obtained 24 awards including a tablet he won for being the best overall pupil and boasts various certificates awarded to high performers,” he said.

According to Mr Zibako, Shawleen was awarded certificates of excellence for being the best pupil in three different subjects in the southern region by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi at the time when he was Vice President in 2017, pointing out that, that on its own was a great motivation. 

He said Shawleen did not have many friends apart from his school mates who they shared a lot in common, arguing that unnecessary friends could derail a child to achieve his goal.

He said Shawleen believed in quality friends who could add value to his life.

Mr Zibako said his son’s handwriting resembles that of a medical doctor and remained optimistic that he would become a medical doctor taking comfort in his brilliance and the same tenacity displayed on various subjects at a tender age more especially in sciences.ends