Africa-Press – Botswana. Parents have been encouraged to teach their children Setswana as it is one of the core subjects needed for one to progress to senior secondary school.
Speaking during the orientation ceremony of Form One parents and pupils on Monday, Sir Seretse Khama Memorial Junior Secondary School head, Mr Mmoloki Moreo said it was important that Batswana children learnt and were proficient in Setswana not only because it was their mother tongue, but because no Motswana child was allowed not to sit for Setswana examination and that it affected the children’s grading.
Mr Moreo urged parents to speak Setswana to their children at home as it would help them to master the language.
He also said it would motivate children to use Setswana when communicating, thereby making it easier for Setswana language teachers.
He highlighted that the teachers were encountering challenges in teaching Setswana to some pupils because they (pupils) were more conversant with English, adding that it was difficult for many pupils to construct well-structured Setswana sentences.
He said some pupils got confused when given a composition assignment about such topics as Mosuke kwa maemelong a dibase because they did not know what mosuke meant.
Mr Moreo also encouraged pupils and parents to use resources such as DailyNews newspaper, Radio Botswana and Botswana Television programmes to learn Setswana.
The orientation ceremony was for parents to know where their children would attend school for the next three years until their Junior Certificate Examinations.
Mr Moreo also urged parents to closely monitor their children’s whereabouts, saying it was at high schools that pupils developed good and bad habits.
The school head also highlighted the importance of support, saying it was in secondary schools that pupils reached the peak of their adolescence and that they needed guidance.
He said it was important for parents to communicate with class and subject teachers, which he said was an effective way to monitor and support, adding that knowing that they were being closely monitored would motivate learners to work hard.
He that what the child became after school was because of the input of both parents and educators, adding that it was imperative for parents to be informed about the academic progress of their children.
Mr Moreo noted that the school had introduced an ‘all boys school’ for Form Threes every Saturday to guide them, adding that the boy child dealt with different psychological challenges and urged parents to allow their sons to attend the classes.
A parent, Ms Itumeleng Tsamae also encouraged the use of readily available resources to learn Setswana, opining that it was embarrassing for a Motswana child not to speak Setswana.
She noted that grandparents were the ones who spoke and taught their grandchildren Setswana.
Ms Tsamae said not learning Setswana also put the language at risk. She encouraged parents to teach and use Setswana not only for academic purposes, but also for identity purposes.
She noted that some pupils passed all their subjects with straight As, but failed Setswana.
For her part, Nyasha Mogotsi, a 12-year-old Form One pupil said she was excited and anxious about the new environment.
She said she was hopeful that the new environment would be characterised by change of many things, including lifestyle.
Nyasha said she was excited that she would be schooling with some pupils from her former primary school.
For 13-year-old Tlotso Sekao, it was at high school that his peers would show their ‘real colours’ as they were nolongwe timid primary school learners.
He said he did not have a problem with Setswana as it was his native language, adding that he was going to do his best to pass every subject.
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