27 Jun 2022

Pupils from schools in Jwaneng and surroundings have been encouraged to work hard and leverage their past academic performance to further excellence.

Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) chief executive officer, Dr Moreetsi Thobega sounded the words of motivation during the annual Debswana Diamond Dream Academic Awards in Jwaneng on Friday.

He told the learners that the high standards they had set had to put them under pressure to keep improving, a situation, he said, they should not fear as pressure often produced brilliant results.

“Like diamonds that are produced as a result of pressure, so should be your academic performance,” he said.

On the awards, Dr Thobega hailed them for being in consonance with the Setswana adage; Lore le ojwa le sale metsi which advocates  for molding children for the good while still young.

He said that BEC was fully involved in the awards by providing quality assurance on the selection process. 

“So it is plausible to say these awards align well with our strategic mandate and national ideal of attaining knowledge based economy. We thank Debswana for helping us nurture this ideal,” he said.

He said that since inception, the academic performance of schools covered by the initiative had improved marginally, with an average credit of 37 per cent to 39 per cent from 2016 to last year at junior schools, while at primary schools the performance moved from 62 per cent to 64 per cent from 2016 to 2021.

“I therefore challenge students to give Debswana a reason to keep supporting them by doing well. The past two years have been a challenge in the education system, but despite that, teachers continued to work hard, so they also need to be applauded,” he said.

Dr Thobega also labelled the awards a catalyst to unlock academic diamonds in a variety of study areas such as languages, mathematics and sciences which he said complemented the wider goal of the education system which aimed to nurture talent.

He also applauded Debswana for also assisting the education sector even at the national level as it had been a prominent sponsor of BEC national excellence awards since 2017.

In his welcome remarks, Jwaneng Mine General Manager, Mr Koolatotse Koolatotse also appreciated BEC for having been a valuable stakeholder in the awards, especially on the verification process to ensure fairness.

He said the awards “is one of our corporate social initiatives that we are proud of as it contributes to our One dream One Team commitment. It is also our way of trying to leave a sustainable impact in the mine’s environs,” he said.

He also mentioned other related initiatives such as Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM), which he said raised awareness on stem opportunities to girls between 14 to 19 years. 

Mr Koolatotse also said that the mine had, among others, installed 22 smart boards in four government primary schools in Jwaneng at a cost of P2 million, which he said was a way of introducing a fourth generation revolution.

One of the STEM initiative beneficiaries, Latifa Phori said she was happy that the initiative covered only girls, which she said would help them make up for lost ground in an area otherwise dominated by men.

“It gives girls hope that they have a chance to excel in the area as well as fostering inquisitiveness in the girl-child and gives them a chance to have a career in stem areas, which is vital in modern day career opportunities.

Chief Education officer for Jwaneng/Mabutsane region, Mr Abram Molelowamodimo said the advent of the awards,there had been significant  improvement in schools. 

“From data analysis, the dream academic awards has impacted schools in stakeholders and schools partnerships, influenced spirit of healthy competition among teachers and learners, improved teacher learners contact time and motivated learners to achieve their potential,” he said.

He said that the funds that schools won from the awards were used to improve infrastructure and equipment in schools, such as purchasing of printers, computers and revision material.

Mr Molelowamodimo therefore challenged schools covered by the initiative to make Debswana’s assistance worthy by performing better. Ends