20 Apr 2022

When President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi applauded Vaalhoek Primary school for achieving good results amongst BORAVAST cluster Primary Schools in Bokspits Kgotla back in 2019, Mr Bernard Lombala, Bokspits Primary School head, was stung.

For the young Lombala, who sat inconspicuous somewhere in a corner, the applause for Vaalhoek Primary School by the President, which in reality lasted only a few seconds, seemed like eternity. The clapping of hands by those at the Kgotla seemed to make it even worse.  He knew immediately that he had to do something to improve his school’s grades.

““Fa tautona a dira jalo go ne ga mpitlaganya thata, kgalaletso eo ya mpitlaganya mme ka ikaelela go ntsha ga tshwene,” he told the audience during his school’s Primary School Leaving Examinations victory celebrations in Bokspits recently. 

Lombala, who had just arrived in Bokspits, would later tell the director of Basic Education, “Never again will it happen for the President to come all the way from Gaborone to congratulate Vaalhoek Primary School at our Kgotla!” He got to work, implementing a strategy that would see Bokspits Primary school convincingly beating the other three primary schools to take the BORAVAST floating trophy. The competing schools were Bokspits, Rappelspan, Vaalhoek and Struizendam. 

 “The journey was not easy, we worked hard. We had to fight because we wanted to witness this victory day. For there to be a feast, there must be hard work!” he said, his smile lighting up his face.

The BORAVAST cluster PSLE awards initiator, and former Bokspits teacher, Mr Boago Sebobi said the awards were organised to improve performance of schools under Remote Area Development Programme (RADP) that were identified by government for targeted focus in 2013. He started the awards with only P600 in 2016, promising to sustain them until year 2025.  

The awards made a big difference. When we started the awards in 2016, the BORAVAST Primary schools’ average ABC pass rate was 58 percent. In 2017 they improved to 65 percent, while in 2018 they were at 67 percent. In 2019 there was a setback as they scored 57 percent. In 2020 the four schools moved to 69 percent and for the year 2021, the average result for all four schools was a whopping 76.6 per cent,” He said, with pride. 

Mr Sebobi explained that Vaalhoek Primary school had been dominating as it won the trophy thrice. None of the schools scored below 50 percent in 2020 and 2021, he said, adding this showed that when all stakeholders worked together they could achieve much.

Breaking down the figures, Mr Sebobi said Bokspits achieved an 88.2 percent ABC pass rate, Rappelspan scored 80 per cent, Struizendam was at 71.4 per cent, while Vaalhoek averaged 66.7 per cent.

He encouraged all stakeholders to support education. He appreciated, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) fund and BORAVAST bookshop and some individuals who sponsored the event.  

For his part, former Kgalagadi South Member of Parliament Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen said Bokspits Primary School made a phenomenal achievement considering the fact that they achieved their good score during the outbreak of COVID-19.

He appreciated teachers for their selfless work considering the BORAVAST cluster was one of the toughest terrains to work in as it lagged behind in developments.

 “I can assure you though, that today you are working in a much better environment, please stay committed and understand that the BORAVAST community is a very special community,” he said.

Bokspits Kgosi Charles Hendricks urged parents to partner with teachers in the education of their children. 

During the event, Kgalagadi District Council chairperson, Mr Hendrick Jacobs announced two more floating trophies for Kgalagadi schools.  The first would be the chairperson trophy to cover both Kgalagadi North and South and would come with a P1 000 cash prize. In addition to the BORAVAST cluster floating trophy there would be one more floating trophy for the cluster that he would sponsor. The trophy would come with a P500 cash prize, he said. 

For his part Botswana Teachers Union president Mr Gotlamang Oitsile appreciated the hard work by teachers and said the union would provide trophies and medals to the tune of P10 000 for schools in Kgalagadi district to compete as part of collective efforts to improve results in the district. ends