10 Feb 2014

Education is not solely the responsibility of teachers,Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Olebile Gaborone has said.

Addressing a kgotla meeting at Borakalalo ward in Molepolole on February 6 Mr Gaborone said the role of parents in their child’s education was not only restricted to buying uniform and paying school fees, but they should take a more active role and always be informed of how the children were doing at school.

Thus, he encouraged parents to make it a habit to attend events such as open days as it not only fosters working relations between them and teachers, but also helped them appreciate challenges teachers face.

Mr Gaborone said the role of government on one hand was to ensure that schools were maintained to create a conducive learning environment for students. He advised that the role of teachers had to spill out of the school gates as teachers had to be aware of family lives of their students to better appreciate them.

Mr Gaborone also promised parents that the reportedly sorry state of Borakalalo Primary School would be looked into.

Earlier, the Village Development Committee secretary, Ms Banyanabotlhe Baatweng complained that the school was dilapidated and needed serious maintenance, something which was later reiterated by speaker after speaker at the meeting.

On other issues, Mr Gaborone advised the public to be vigilant and guard against corruption, especially on government property such as vehicles, which he said were often abused. He said corruption has the potential to bring down the economy of a county if not guarded against.

Still at the same meeting, the director of social protection, Ms Ruth Radibe informed the parents that contrary to assumptions, the Children’s Act of 2009 did not encourage delinquency and was only meant to protect children.

“There are instances where children are raped by their close relatives and the cases are not reported, some children are discriminated against because of their disability and others are abused while others are not provided with the basic needs of life. This is where the law comes in,” she said.

Ms Radibe said some people were complaining that they could not even discipline their wayward children as they threaten them with the law, but said the law allows reasonable disciplining as long as it was not abuse.

She explained that the Act includes among other things the right of children to know both their biological parents even when they were not married.

“This is useful in cases like chronic diseases where a child needs an organ donor, in this way it is easy to trace relatives of either parent to find a compatible donor. Parents should also know that if they have parted, the conflict is between only the two of them and should not drag children into it,” she said. ENDS