10 Mar 2014

The current staffing situation at Salajwe Primary School cannot be singled out as the only contributory factor to the performance of the school, Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Patrick Masimolole has said.

Mr Masimolole told Parliament recently that performance of schools was based on a number of factors amongst them availability of qualified staff and the involvement of key stakeholders such as parents and students.

He noted that Salajwe Primary School had a staff compliment of 19 employees, including the school head and the deputy, adding that of the 17 teachers in the school, eight were permanent and pensionable while nine were employed on temporary basis.

The assistant minister informed the house that four out of the nine temporary teachers were standing in for permanent teachers who were on study leave.

Furthermore, he said the ministry’s efforts to fill these vacancies had been constrained by non-acceptance of offers of appointment to serve in Salajwe.

He, however, said the regional office continued to intensify recruitment for the five vacant posts. Government initiatives like payment of Remote Area Service Allowance to compensate employees in areas such as Salajwe would continue to be used to retain them, he said.

Parliament heard that for the past five years from 2009 to 2013, the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results of the school was between 23 and 49 per cent, and it was only in 2010 that the school achieved a pass rate of 64 per cent.

In 2011, the school got 39 per cent pass rate, 2012 was 37 per cent, 2009 was 23 per cent while 2013 was 49 per cent. MP for Letlhakeng West, Mr Ngaka Ngaka had asked if the Minister of Education and Skills Development was aware that temporary teachers outnumbered permanent teachers at Salajwe Primary School.

He had also wanted to know how had this affected the performance of the school and how had the school performed in the past five years and also what would be done to address he situation. Ends