13 Mar 2014

Government continues to channel billions of Pula into the education system amid declining pass rates and reluctance by parents to play their role.

The Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Patrick Masimolole, said during a kgotla meeting at Mmankgodi on March 12 that the pass rate had been going down for the past four to five years.

Mr Masimolole said government was doing all in its power to improve education but was constrained by shortage of resources and parents’ lack of commitment. The ministry planned to correct the students-teacher ratio in public schools because the current one was not good for learning.

He said the disparity between public schools and privately owned ones could be traced back to the levels of commitment that parents demonstrated. He said the performance of public school could improve if parents played their part just as parents who sent their children to English medium schools.

Schools in Mmankgodi had been underperforming, with Letlole Primary School getting a 36 per cent pass rate and Thobega Junior Secondary School obtaining a 23 per cent pass. However, Mmoni Primary School got 71 per cent.

The assistant minister said they  formulated some education-improvement programmes such as back-to-school to create opportunities for students who did not perform well to take examinations again.

Other problems that bedevil Botswana’s education are that some students drink alcohol and take drugs. He blamed delinquency on parents for their lack of monitoring and guidance. Furthermore students engage in sexual relationships, resulting in drop-outs because of pregnancy – another indication of lack of parental care. Ends