28 Nov 2021

 Crescent School, which is one of the oldest private schools in Botswana, celebrated its 60^th anniversary on Saturday.

The school was built through crowd funding as a community initiative by the then Bechuanaland Muslim community and started operating in 1961. It went on to become a landmark feature of education in Lobatse and the whole country.

Lobatse MP, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, who was the guest speaker at the celebrations, lauded the school for having stood against challenges over the years and remaining resolute on its mission to provide an inclusive approach to education.  

“That you have continued to operate as a school now is testimony to your tenacity and ability to survive the market,” said Dr Matsheka, who is also the minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development.

He said the initiative to build Crescent School six decades ago showed how much the community of the time cared about the future of their future generations.

Dr Matsheka added that the school had had records of achievements in all national examinations since its first candidate was registered for the Primary School Leaving Examinations.

“The school has gone on to develop its programmes, which we are proud of and we need to commend and encourage the management of this school and the board of governors to continue the good work,” he said.

Crescent School head, Mr Naseem Miller said he was proud to celebrate another milestone in the existence of the school. 

He said Crescent was established on old values of politeness and respect, saying the school had retained that culture to today.

He said their aspirations were to turn Crescent into a fully digitised school. 

He said Crescent was the second private school to be built in the country. 

“It was exactly 60 years ago today that Sir Peter, the then resident commissioner of Bechuanaland Protectorate, came to the school to officially open it. We are blessed to be able to celebrate on the very day that he opened the school,” Mr Miller said.

Detailing the history of the school, former chairperson of the school board, Mr Ismail Ibrahim pointed that Crescent started as a primary school with a single block of classrooms. 

He said the block and other facilities such as hostels were at the time built with monetory contributions from the Muslim community around Bechuanaland.

He said the money amounted to 12 500 British pounds. 

He said another 12 500 pounds came from the British government. 

He said the members of the Muslim community had arrived in Bechuanaland Protectorate in the late 1800s as hawkers.

Mr Ibrahim said in the late 1950s the Muslims asked for a piece of land to build the school because their children were schooling in South Africa. 

He said they were given land in Lobatse. 

He said the school was initially called the Lobatse Indian School and Hostel.

The school’s name was changed to Crescent in 1963. 

“As time went on we decided to change the name of the school. 

We said we are going to call it Crescent because we are a multi-racial school,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim said the school went through several ups and downs and was at one point facing bankruptcy. 

However, he said through dedication from management and the board, they sailed through and as time went on a junior secondary school was added and facilities were also increased. BOPA