08 Jun 2022

Tutume Sub-district Council has been urged to distribute resources equitably in the region. 

Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Ms Nnaniki Makwinja thus encouraged the leadership during her tour of schools in Nata/Gweta constituency on Tuesday.

Gasebalwe Seretse Primary School head, Ms Nsagwa Mothobi had earlier on decried inequitable distribution of resources.

She said in most instances some schools would experience severe shortages, while others had enough to surplus of teaching and learning materials. 

Ms Mothobi, whose school is located on the outskirts of Gweta, compared it to Gweta Primary School, wondering if the geographical location had anything to do with the anormally.

She said with an enrollment of 725, the school needed a lot of stationary to enable effective teaching and learning. 

She also noted that although they had a big photocopying machine, it was not effective, as it needed constant maintenance. 

She revealed that just recently, the school spent P4 800 on the machine maintenance in preparation for end of term tests. 

Ms Mothobi said despite the challenges, the school was performing well, noting that they scored 82.7 per cent in the 2020 Primary School Leaving Examination results, with quality pass for AB at 40.7 per cent. 

She said they, however, suffered a setback in 2021, where they got 68.8 per cent, but maintained quality pass of AB at 40.6 per cent. 

She further noted that they did not have a problem of poor attendance or absconding by upper classes being standard four to seven, adding, however, that the challenge was at lower classes.

She commended the teachers, some of whom voluntarily follow pupils to their homes and bring them back to school. 

 On other issues, she appealed to the ministry to open a special unit centre in the area, because there were some special need learners, whose parents could not afford to send them to schools in either Tutume or Francistown. 

 For her part, Ms Makwinja said improvements were being done in the education system, such as digitalising schools and improving infrastructure. 

She said had it not been for delays from suppliers, the ministry would have already started distributing electronic gadgets for learners and teachers, starting with senior schools. 

Ms Makwinja said they were working on acquiring the needed 300 000 gadgets between now and 2023. 

 Meanwhile, Tutume Sub- district Council education secretary, Ms Seetsele Sikwidi noted that in providing materials, they were informed by both requisition forms by schools and school population. 

She lamented, however, that some schools made requests even when they had surpluses, promising that her team would look into the issue. BOPA