29 May 2023

Kweneng region education leadership has been commended for motivating a workforce whose spirits have been dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

When delivering a keynote address during the region’s excellence awards in Molepolole on Friday, the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Ms Nnaniki Makwinja, said the awards motivated and encouraged both staff and learners to work hard.

“We are discovering new talents and opportunities and one of the dreams we have realised is the use of technology where we have gone deeper as evidenced by our e-learning initiative,” she added.

Ms Makhwinja commended the region for improvement in the 2022 academic performance when it attained position five.

She said she was not surprised by the improvement as the region came up with initiatives such as the ‘Operation Maduo Initiative’.

The assistant minister said the education ministry believed in its systems and personnel in an endeavor to achieve great things.

She congratulated the recipients of the awards for a job well done as they were determined to excel.

For his part, director of education - Kweneng regional operations, Mr Steve Bothasitse said they were awarding learners and teachers who had scored 80 percent and above.

He thanked AWIL College whom they had partnered with in delivering these awards and had invested close to P1.5 million in the form of labour and equipment.

“We shall forever be thankful to the management of AWIL college for trusting that we could deliver this together,” said Mr Bothasitse.

He further said the region believed in long lasting relationships, hence forging relationships with strategic partners among them Botswana Savings Bank, Botho University, Vincent Excellent Tours, BOCRA, BTU, Toshiba, Collegium Publishing Company, Botsalana Printers, Macmillan Publishers, Security Systems, Builders World Molepolole, Ticano Purchase Order Financing, and Thuso Hotels.

“This is where as a ministry, we are redefining our worth and we could use this to attract partners and also generate income or at least position ourselves well.”

Mr Bothasitse said the awards would go a long way in defining the education sector and improving academic results.

He congratulated all the winners and encouraged them to continue working hard to achieve better results in 2024.

The awards saw 58 learners from primary, junior and secondary schools being awarded different prices for their academic performance. 

A total of 34 teachers were rewarded for their excellence.

The award for the overall best performing pupil at primary went to Rethabile Goetsa who was also best in the subject of Setswana from Rungwana Primary School.

Best performing pupil who attained merit in the junior certificate exams were Laone Ranko from Motswasele Junior Secondary School (JSS), Samantha Sekgee from Letlole JSS who also scooped best performing learner by subject in both social studies and agriculture and Kgotlayame Kesebonye from Masilo JSS. 

The winners were given tablets by their sponsors being Toshiba.

Under the BGCSE category, the overall best performing pupil award went to Mosinyi Maatla who got 48 points.

The academic staff were also awarded under different categories as per their performance in different subjects across schools.

The last award of the night being best sub region in Kweneng regional operations went to Mogoditshane sub region. ends