17 Mar 2014

In an effort to address maintenance problems in schools, the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, (MoESD) will in April introduce a call centre to coordinate all maintenance issues in schools.

This was revealed by the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Patrick Masimolole during a kgotla meeting in Thamaga recently.

He explained that the call centres would be located at strategic places enabling them to interlink with nearby schools in the vicinity.

Schools would report all maintenance problems directly to the call centre.

Mr Masimolole told residents that his ministry was concerned over poor results in schools at all levels. He said this has been the case for the past three to four years.

He attributed the poor results to factors such as lack of involvement by parents in their children’s education as one of the major challenges that contribute to poor performance.

He stated that other factors such as alcohol and drug abuse as well as indulgence in sexual activities that lead to teenage pregnancy all contribute negatively in students’ education.

He said all these happen because parents have distanced themselves from schools.

He also noted that learners travel long distances to schools and get tired resulting in poor performance.

In his remarks, Kgosi Gobuamang Gobuamang of Thamaga told Mr Masimolole that they had long asked the government to build a vocational training centre in the village, but that they have not received any feedback and were concerned that the plot might be taken from them.

For their part, residents of Thamaga asked the assistant minister to give them an update of a unified secondary school that they were promised by the President last year.

They complained that Thamaga has three junior schools and that their children were forced to travel a long distance to Moshupa Senior Secondary School. They said this exposes their children to danger.

Furthermore, residents argued that schools can still deliver good results if parents and teachers work together.

They suggested that students should be provided with communication books so that parents can monitor their homework.

This, they said, would improve communication between teachers and parents.

Responding to their concerns, Mr Masimolole said there were about three proposed unified schools including one of the junior secondary schools in Thamaga, but that plans were underway that as soon as funds were available a unified school would be built in Thamaga.

He also said students were made to travel long distances because some parents prefer certain schools over others.

He further said it was the ministry’s aim to avail admission forms in schools on time, adding that equipping schools with resources takes priority over their expansion. ENDS