30 Jun 2023

 The Southern region has embarked on an initiative to train craftsmen from other regions on refurbishment of worn out furniture as a way of saving funds.

Speaking during the ongoing training workshop in Kanye on Tuesday, Southern region operations director, Mr Acro Maseko told participants that refurbishing old furniture was a great way to breathe new life into it and it can be quite cost effective when compared to buying brand new one.

Mr Maseko said in 2018 the centre started collecting worn out furniture from different secondary schools around Kanye for refurbishment and after restoration the furniture would be distributed to needy schools.

“Our region has found it fit to refurbish the worn out furniture because most of the schools are running short of furniture and there are no sufficient funds to buy new furniture for the schools,” he explained.

He added that better and enough furniture enabled improved learning and it motivated learners to go to school knowing that they would have a proper place to sit and learn.

He stated that the main objective of the two-week training workshop was to equip craftsmen from other regions with refurbishment skills of school desks, bunk beds as well as laboratory stools.

“About 25 craftsmen from South, Central, Kweneng and Mabutsane sub-region would be trained to refurbish the worn out furniture so as to improve the quality and durability of the furniture,” he said.

Again, he said the workshop also aimed at training staff through multiplier effect so that they could in turn train others and ultimately regions, sub-regions and schools would refurbish their own furniture.

For her part, principal education officer, Ms Lydia Makgoma urged participants to take the training seriously as the workshop activities can benefit and improve their skills and qualities.

She said the workshop would also help them build a sense of unity, cooperation, partnerships, improve their professional qualification and it would also reduce costs of procuring expensive furniture.

Ms Makgoma further urged them to put what they had learnt into practice and pass it to other craftsmen in their regions, promising to provide some form of support to ensure their safety by providing proper machinery, tools and protective clothing.

She emphasised that the training was useful because they can also start up their own businesses immediately after the training programme. BOPA