MATER SPEI COLLEGE CELEBRATES
Francistown’s leading senior secondary school, Mater Spei College celebrated 60 years of existence in a memorable ceremony last Friday, 9 February, 2024. Founded in 1963 by dedicated Roman Catholic Priests and sisters, the school has gone on to make a huge impact Botswana’s development, producing some of the top achievers who helped shape the country’s economy.
A government Catholic aided school, for the last six decades Mater Spei has been a leading learning institution known for achieving top results, and producing well rounded students who became respected leaders in their adult lives. Held under the theme: ‘Past Fuelling the Future, 60 years of Excellence and Beyond’, the celebrations started with Mass at the Mater Spei Parish, with distinguished Alumni such as: Honorables Billy Buti, Fidelis Molao and Guest Speaker, Leonard Makwinja in attendance. In his welcome remarks, the School Head, Babuluki Bajiti said the 60th Anniversary was a befitting celebration for an institution that has made such a difference in the country. A 1982 alumni, Bajiti said Mater Spei’s impact in the country development cannot be ignored. “Mater Spei, which means ‘Mother of Hope’, is all about excellence, both academic and extracurricular,” explained Bajiti.
The School Head added that although their overall national position has been disappointing in the last couple of years, the school still managed more A* and A grades than any other in the country. In 2022 alone, Mater Spei produced 144 A* and 348 A’s, which was the best in Botswana. “This is because we’ve dedicated and qualified teachers,” he declared. Bajiti, however, noted this success has made them a target as parents scramble to enroll their children at the award-winning school. “This has led to a challenge of over population. Every parent wants their child here, and this has created a problem for us,” he admitted. Bajiti said the school currently has a student population of 1, 958, leading to 54 classes against the school capacity of 42 classes. ‘’This means we’re forced to use specialised classes reserved for Sciences, Design and Technology and Home Economics,” he disclosed. The School Head said they need an extra 12 classes, and appealed to the gathered alumni and the business community to help with the additional learning space. He further revealed the current classrooms are old and outdated and not fit for a 21st century learner. ‘’We’ve to bring Mater Spei to the digitization era and equip our classrooms with the necessary tools such as smart boards, projectors and expanded internet
required for today’s learning,” challenged Bajiti. Giving a brief history of the school, former School Head, and the founding Head Boy, Damien Thapa referred to Mater Spei as the baby of Our Lady of the Desert Primary School. “After the formation of Our Lady, the Roman Catholic leaders saw the need to build a secondary school - and that’s how Mater Spei was born. We’ve to thank the Priests and Sisters who despite their main mission being Christianity and teaching the word of God, saw education as a critical part of human development,” he said. Thapa said the new secondary school soon introduced boarding facilities to cater for the many young people who were hungry for education. He revealed it was during this period that they learned true leadership as the school had no boarding master nor matron, and as the founding Head Boy, together with the then Head Girl Florence Lekonga (nee Dick), students were the eyes and ears of the school management. In his remarks, Guest Speaker, Leonard Makwinja was full of praise for the many priests and nuns who worked tirelessly to impart knowledge to young Batswana during the school’s formative years. ‘’I was inspired by so many leaders including the late Bishop Setlalekgosi, Monsignor Urban Murphy and Father Germanous Mcgrander, and early on during my teenage years I wanted to be a priest,” said the
former alter boy, who started his schooling at Our Lady of the Desert in 1964, was baptised in 1967 and later joined Mater Spei. The current Executive Director and Board Chairperson of Leboan Holdings, Cradle Arc Investment Propriety Limited, and MP Mining credited his former educators at Mater Spei for guiding him towards the path of Engineering. ‘’At some point I wanted to do Home Economics, lured by the sweet smell of cakes, but was chased away to a Maths and Science class,” recalled Makwinja. The holder of a BSC Degree in Mining, and former Deputy Managing Director of Debswana Diamond Company said at some point, the Headmaster had to drag him from home to school as he had no interest in learning. “What I want to tell you is that self-discipline is key to success. You can have good results, but without self-discipline you’ll still end up in the streets,” warned Makwinja.