Moshana leadership worried by poor academic results
Performance decline attributed to alcohol abuse
Moshana is located nine kilometres from Kanye, along the KanyeJwaneng road. This is where Modisi Primary School, that admits learners from Moshana and its periphery is located. It is one of the schools in the Kanye North constituency which is not doing well academically.
In the 2021 PSLE results, the school performance dropped to 37.3 percent, in comparison to 63.7 percent in 2020. It is positioned second from the bottom, only beating Lekgolobotlo Primary School, which recorded 23.5 percent and 84.4 percent in 2021 and 2020 respectively. The two schools are the lowest performing out of 11 primary schools in Kanye North. Even with the sad state of affairs for these two, there are still schools such as Rachele, which obtained 81 percent in 2020 and 93.3 percent in 2021, and Kgomokasitwa that registered 82 percent in 2020 and 90.5 percent in 2021 and continue to record exceptional results.
This week, the performance of the school, and those of others in the Kanye North constituency, both primary and secondary were under the spotlight at a Kgotla meeting called by the area Member of Parliament, Thapelo Letsholo. The meeting was held in Moshana, and attended by government officials, as well as concerned residents who are keen to find a lasting solution to this sad state of affairs.
Speaking in an interview, Kgosi Seate Marumo attributed the poor academic performance of the schools in the area to several challenges that the region is faced with. One of the issues that are giving him sleepless nights is the high brewing and consumption of illegal alcohol by both parents and school going children. “Children and adults are always drunk,“said Kgosi Marumo.
According to Kgosi Marumo, because the attention of adults was diverted to alcohol, they did not have particular interest in their children’s education. In extreme cases, where children get transport money from Social Workers, parents end up using it for alcohol. He said that the high consumption of alcohol also contributes to children absconding from school. Failure to find solutions to this problem, he said, will affect children in the long run, eventually destroying their future.
He is concerned that the youth in his area generally do not want to do anything productive. Previously, a community garden had been developed with the support of the Botswana Defence Force, but now remains a white elephant. He further said sadly after harvesting, the young people abandoned the garden which is now standing idle instead of giving them a source of income.
“They are not interested in doing anything that can uplift their lives. They do not want to take advantage of any government programmes initiated by the President to alleviate poverty,” said Marumo.
Speaking during his address, Letsholo called on parents to come up with ways that can best improve the school results. He shared how Modisi was one of the lowest performing schools in his area. He said that there was a problem which needed to be rectified before the situation got worse.
“We need to join hands and take responsibility, and see how we can find answers to this problem,” he said. He also noted that in the coming weeks, he will meet with school authorities to hear their views on the issue.
Speaking during the meeting, Council Chairperson, Thamiso Chabalala disclosed that a block of two class rooms were scheduled to be constructed in the school. He further said that the residents can look forward to developments that include a tower light at the school.
To address the long distance that children are traveling to get to schools, Chabalala said the Council hopes to have a new junior secondary with boarding facilities in the future which will cater for Moshana, Gasita, Selokolela, and Sesu. But that can only happen if numbers of residents allow for a junior school to be constructed.
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