Oarabile Mosikare
8 October 2008
Letlhakane — Rampant thefts, alcohol consumption and a disturbingly high pregnancy rate continue to haunt Letlhakane Senior Secondary School (LSSS).
Welcoming guests, parents and students, school head Tamuhla Jorosi said yesterday that despite its successes LSSS has serious challenges. "First on the list is alcohol consumption by students. It is a small number of students who partake alcohol. It looks like alcohol consumption is fashionable. Students who partake alcohol are easily detected because a person who has taken one too many doesn't behave like a person coming from church," Jorosi said.
Another challenge faced by the school is the number of girls dropping out due to pregnancy. He said LSSS lost 30 students, most of them Form Fours. He disclosed that some were pregnant before they enrolled at his school. Jorosi decried that usually those who leave (to go and deliver) do not perform well.It is not only the pregnancy rate that is giving Jorosi and his staff sleepless nights. Jorosi also mentioned that theft is the order of the day at LSSS that the police are always there to help with investigations.
"Thefts, particularly at the boys' hostels, have a negative impact on other students. It causes other students immense discomfort. When your property is not safe, you are also not safe." This negative trend also forces well behaved students to quit for other schools.
Jorosi also appealed to parents to pay school fees on time. He said some students were extremely behind in their payments. He said he expects all students in arrears to have paid by October 31. Jorosi reminded parents that "all the economically disadvantaged" should seek exemption letters from the Social and Community Development Department."Giving them letters should not be misunderstood to mean they were chased away from school. We don't have that authority and such authority rests with the Minister of Education and Skills Development Jacob Nkate."
The guest of honour and Ndino Enterprises managing director Sharon Mahube, applauded the school administration for coming up with this year's theme: "Customer/Stakeholders Participation: A Key For Achieving Educational Excellence".
Mahube said the theme was a wake-up call to parents, the business community, government, private sector, non- governmental organisations (NGOs), and teachers to work together to produce well-educated individuals, "that is individuals with all the attributes" considered desirable in any citizen."Our dreams of becoming an informed and educated nation as envisaged in Vision 2016 can only be realised when the above mentioned stakeholders all work together for a common goal. Our children need the moral support of parents if we are to provide them with a conducive learning environment. A child who comes to school distressed due to lack of parental support cannot do well in school," she said.She said such a child will always find it hard to concentrate in class because they will spend most of the time thinking about various problems.
This will lead to the child losing focus and interest in schoolwork. Mahube said once a child develops a negative attitude towards schoolwork they will not cope with the demands of schoolwork. "Ultimately the child will fail dismally or even dropout of school."
The guest of honour, who is also a physiotherapist graduate from Manchester University in the United Kingdom (UK), noted that teachers also need constant feedback from parents on the welfare of the child. This feedback, she said gives teachers a full picture of the child and helps to nurture the intellectual development of the child.
Mahube stated that this could only be made possible if the parent constantly visited the school to check on the progress of the child."Research in developed countries has shown that schools that enjoy strong parent/stakeholder involvement do better than those that do not. This relationship between the teacher, the child and the parents can never be complete without the involvement of other stakeholders, like government and the private sector," she said.
The youthful entrepreneur explained that the involvement of business communities in education should never be underestimated. "Ndino Enterprises have always taken pride in assisting the needy children so that they can compete on the same footing with other children.
Our open door policy in assisting communities around us in times of need and in times of happiness have always been our priority."
Mahube encouraged the concerned parties to make sure the country's education reaches greater heights by investing in children's education. "This reminds me of a Chinese proverb which says 'if you want to plan for a year you should plant rice, if your want to plan for a decade you should plant trees but if you want to plan for a life time you must educate a person'. I want to challenge everybody who is here that we should take pride in investing in our children's education in order to achieve educational excellence," she said.
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