17 Oct 2013

The involvement of parents in their children’s education is vital and should be encouraged, says Northern region sales and marketing officer for Macmillan Botswana Publishing Company Mr Letsweletse Matlhape.

Speaking during Mahalapye Junior Secondary School price giving ceremony recently, Mr Matlhape said the importance of parental involvement in their children’s education should not be overlooked.

He said the absence of parental care and attention were the main factors that increased juvenile delinquency and many other ills which young people got into whilst at schools.

On other issues, Mr Matlhape who is also former head teacher of Ngami secondary school advised teachers to forge ahead and spearhead change by guiding and moulding students in the right direction.

Mr Matlhape said this was also in pursuit of building a moral and tolerant nation, one of vision 2016 pillars as well as the pillar of an educated and informed nation. He said teachers support the economy by producing lawyers, economists, doctors, scientists, business men and women.

Mr Matlhape also applauded teachers for their hard work which has led to Mahalapye junior secondary school maintaining a stable pass rate which picked in 2012.

However, he bemoaned 2012 examinations results as quantity pass rather than quality pass as there were many middle and low grades as opposed to upper grades.

He encouraged those who received awards to add more value to their grades and urged those who did not receive anything to work harder.

For her part , when giving welcome remarks the head teacher of Mahalapye junior secondary school Ms Botho Makwati regretted the low number of parents who attended the price giving ceremony as betraying to the theme of the price giving ceremony being: Student, Teacher, and Parent Partnership- an important strategy for educating the child. Ends