15 Feb 2023

Government will not be able to construct a new primary school in Tutume during the Transitional National Development Plan 2023-2025 due to budgetary constraints.

That is despite that figures warranted construction of a new primary school at the village.

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Mabuse Pule said this in response to a question in Parliament on Tuesday.

However, the assistant minister said the ministry would take the request on board with other deserving priorities, albeit through the normal planning process.

“The decision to construct a new primary school is influenced not just by population, but also by other factors such as the distance travelled by pupils to the nearest school and the number of existing schools and their enrollment,” Mr Pule said.

Currently, he said Tutume had a total of six primary schools, two junior schools and a secondary school.

Member of Parliament for Nkange, Dr Never Tshabang wanted to know if there were any considerations of an additional primary school in Tutume given its current population size.

Dr Tshabang also asked the minister to give demographics required for a large centre to have an additional primary school. ENDS