Africa-Press – Botswana. The ride to top five in the Botswana General Certificate in Secondary Education (BGCSE) for Swaneng Hill School has not been an easy one.
When the results were announced last month, Swaneng emerged number four out of 34 senior schools countrywide, a well deserved break for the teachers, learners, non-teaching staff and parents who toiled to finally have the school’s name mentioned, for something good this time.
“When I arrived in Swaneng, what I needed to do was gain confidence among staff.
Schools normally have the same strategies, the only difference is how you apply yourself,” states the school head, Mr Pius Molapisi who transferred to Swaneng last year April from Letlhakane Senior Secondary School.
He reckons that it is easier to respond and work under the arrangement one finds on arrival, as long as the environment is not hostile.
“I remember saying to myself, this is a good crowd, because I could see how the teachers were responding when I talked to them and how they received me.
I was not sure of the pupils, but I had to work hard to be part of them,” he says.
Mr Molapisi remembers setting foot at Swaneng and hatching a plan to move the school from position 12 to something better. He chose to run with two strategies that he was sure he could bet his money on; morning study and boot or academic camp as they referred to it at his previous school, an arrangement where pupils come and learn under supervision during school recess and on weekends.
Another thing is ensuring that when the time comes to prepare for the final examinations, pupils have enough study material, Mr Molapisi states.
This was made possible by the good Samaritans who donated photocopying papers.
Schools use mock exams as a litmus to gauge pupils’ readiness for the final exams, but Mr Molapisi says the outcome did not give them a clear picture of what would come in the end. That did not dampen their spirits because they had a mission to accomplish, and forward they moved.
The school’s performance in the BGCSE has been a roller coaster.
In 2012 they obtained position 18, in 2013 they got number 12, and the following three years position 11. In 2017 the school made position eight, in 2018 they descended to position 14, in 2019 position 11 and 12th spot for the next two years then finally, position four in 2022.
Mr Molapisi admits that the ratio of 30 students per teacher works for them and English is their strongest point.
“It is the one that we have trusted to pull us up.
If our pupils pass English, we are assured that the school has passed.
The other subject we rely on is Science double award. We were also boosted by triple or pure science pupils who opted to seat for Science Double award and aced the Sciences,” stated Mr Molapisi.
The feat has not been without challenges.
Mr Molapisi states that he had to deal with rebellious learners, a situation that emanates mostly from drug use and needed to be addressed diligently.
“We involved the police, especially for those who brought drugs to school, and the situation improved,” states Mr Molapisi.
The Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) has also contributed to the school’s academic performance.
The university held online Science lessons, giving learners remedial exercises.
“Even though we were limited by connectivity sometimes, we are thankful for their contribution,” Mr Molapisi states.
With only a couple of days left to call it a day, deputy school head, Mr Tlamelo Kereeditse retires a happy man.
Having been with the school since 2012, Mr Kereeditse has seen it through the bad and the good years. When asked what his contribution was to Swaneng being the talk of town in the region now, Mr Kereeditse says it is hard to single out his contribution because they worked as a team.
“In a school set up, it is difficult to individualise contribution.
Having been in the school for a while, Mr Kereeditse admits that pupils delinquency has been a challenge that forced the school to seek intervention from outside.
“We went to present ourselves to Kgosi in Botalaote, pleading with him to help us and he did.
Some pupils were sent to his kgotla for whipping,” recalls Mr Kereeditse.
Ms Bame Motlhakatha, a Home Management teacher and Ms Pinki Maseko, a Development Studies teacher are two happy teachers.
Ms Matlhakatha savours the relationship she has with teachers from her former schools, St Joseph’s College and Naledi Senior Secondary School, who share past exam papers with her, which she complements with other study material from private tutors as well as from Maruapula School and Legae Academy.
“This helps us check the standard of exams we set, remember these are the best performing schools,” she adds.
Realising that DVS has not been the school’s strongest subject, Ms Maseko says they formed a DVS association, ‘to sell the subject to learners’. WhatsApp groups have also come in handy as platforms for teachers to share notes and interact with learners.
No school can ever make it without non-teaching staff, they are just as essential, but sometimes forgotten.
Mr Mothusi Ramokgalagadi from the maintenance department takes pride in knowing that he is valued and does his bit to ensure things run smoothly and leaners have a conducive environment to study.
“During the exams I make sure that every pupil has a chair and table to avoid having them getting to the exam room late because they have to search for those,” states Mr Ramokgalagadi, who further added that he enjoyed a good relationship with last year’s Form 5s.
The current turn of events has somewhat put pressure on this year’s cohort to maintain the level of performance or even take it a notch higher. Student Representative Council (SRC) president, Beyoncé Makgoweng encourages her peers to engage in study groups as that seemed to have worked for last year’s group.
She also encourages them to dedicate equal time to all subjects.
Minister of Academics, Tshepang Odirile encourages fellow learners to make use of weekend studies because it was not easy for some to study at home.
She also would like for the school to invite former pupils who did well to come and share notes with them.
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