Africa-Press – Botswana. Learners are usually confident and motivated to do well in their studies when they have decent school uniform, says Mmathethe/ Molapowabojang MP Dr Edwin Dikoloti.
Dr Dikoloti who is also a health minister, therefore said learners from underprivileged families should be assisted with decent uniform when their parents struggle to provide such.
He said this recently when handing over donation of school shoes, bags, sports balls, blankets and packets of sweets to pupils at Metlobo and Ga-Segwagwa primary schools in his constituency. The donations were provided by World Group of Companies.
Dr Dikoloti said he organized the donations after realising that some pupils in the two schools did not have shoes and basic school uniform.
He said having shoes would bring back the pupils’ dignity and motivate them to work harder at their studies.
“Education is something we should invest on because it is the future for our children. It is through education that we can mold the children into future leaders,” he said.
Teachers and support staff at the two schools were also given blankets. The MP said it was his mission to assist pupils in his constituency excel in their studies. He urged pupils to take school seriously. Metlobo Primary School head-teacher, Mr Tsholetsego Magogwe thanked World Group of Companies and Dr Dikoloti for the noble gesture, which resulted in all 294 pupils at the school receiving the donations.
He said shoes and blankets came at the right time since winter was approaching. He said Metlobo Primary School had performed well in the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE).
“Over the past five years we have been one of the best performing schools in the Southern District. In 2018 we attained 88.9 per cent pass rate, 2019 we achieved 82.2 per cent, 2020 we achieved 86.4 per cent,” he said.
Mr Magogwe said the school diopped in 2021 with a 66.7 per cent pass rate, but last year improved to a remarkable 93.3 per cent. He said they had 30 pupils writing the PSLE examinations last year and 28 of them passed.
Ga-Segwagwa Primary School head-teacher, Ms Lulu Mokgweetsi also expressed appreciation for the donation. She however said the performance of the school was not satisfactory in the last two PSLEs. She said the school attained 22 per cent pass rate in 2021, while they improved to 50 percent in 2022.
“We are hopeful of improving and achieving a better result this year,” she said. She said bad behaviour was contributing to poor performance of their pupils. Ms Mokgweetsi said there were many cases of pupils engaging in fights after school. She however said the school was committed to work with parents in addressing the problem. She further said the school had problem of shortage of resources such as photo-copier and internet.
Metlobo/ Magwereapitse councilor, Mr Ketlhogile Keipeile expressed gratitude for the gifts.
“It is the first time a school in this area has received this kind of support. In this regard we pass our gratitude the World Group of Companies,” said the councillor, who is also deputy chairman of Goodhope District Council.
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