Separating wheat from chaff

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday July 27, 2026 06:00

But a school should do its best to keep foreign influence at bay. For instance, visitors should be subjected to thorough security checks. A security conscious school should, without ceasing, desire to scrutinise all visitors and those seeking to do business with the school. school premises. What value are they adding to the school and how the visitors are helping the school to realise its goals? Here is a word of caution. Not all visitors mean well. Some come with bad intentions.

It should be the duty of a school to learn to separate wheat from chaff. Some of the visitors may not be what they claim or pretend to be. This could be the reason why schools are confronted with a spike in cases of indiscipline and substance abuse. Bad external influences must curtailed and frustrated while good external influences should be nurtured and encouraged. Schools should cultivate rapport and friendship with celebrities. Platforms should be created enabling students to interact with eminent persons who have distinguished themselves in their professional trades. It is disheartening to find some school gates are left wide open and unmanned for the better of the school business. A school is not a shopping mall where anybody can walk in and out without scrutiny. Security at the gates should be tightened to secure the integrity of schools and to guarantee the safety and protection of the country’s most valuable assets - students. There is also an urgent need to reset the mindsets of students from negativity to positivity. Students should relish the vibe of a school. They must have a sense of belonging and ownership. A school should not feel like an imposition from parents or teachers. Left to their own devices, students can become their own worst enemies. Students discipline is no mana from heaven. It is earned through hard work, persuasion and a deliberate creation of an enabling environment. Schools cannot hope to accomplish much if students, for whose benefit schools are created, participate reluctantly. Schools should excite students and make them keen to learn. Schools must endeavour as a matter urgency to win back the hearts of students who seem to have little faith in the game changing power of a school. Students should know that there is no hope without schools.

Preparatory work must begin to make school life a desirable and likable world. Preparing a fertile ground for success begins with creating an environment where students can voluntarily surrender their best selves and render undivided attention to a routine pattern of school life - being study, work, play and sleep. This is a rhythm of life which all schools should inculcate in the minds of students. During the course of their studies students should regard a school as their whole world. Nothing else should be a priority at this stage. It must be noted that students are contending with too many distractions which split attention. To do well they need both motivation and a push. one of the factors which can split inadvertently the attention of students is the location of a school. A school that sits in the heart of a city tends to have too many distractions and interests competing for attention. A school located in the outskirts of a town or insulated by distance from cities has fewer distractions to deal with. Perhaps we should enter into a national dialogue over the location of schools.

Missionary schools such as St. Joseph’s College and Moeding College were deliberately isolated in the bush in order to enjoy the serenity and quietness that come with the territory. Not only are they isolated but they were boarding schools where students lived and studied together as a separate community. This was to ensure a total and undivided focus on school work , play and sleep. Tshekedi Khama’s Moeng College was founded on the principle of ensuring a disciplined and totally focused student body.

The country, should perhaps embark on a soul searching exercise with the aim of resetting schools. Education planners should consider geography when building schools. That is the location of a school can contribute not only to improved learning outcomes but also to character development. Geography matters when one considers the value of a serene and quiet environment to teaching and learning.

Bush boarding schools appear ideal in many respects. Being isolated from family for too long makes students realise the need to treat the school as a second home and to work harmoniously with fellow students and teachers for mutual survival and prosperity . Studying together, facing hardships as a collective create a strong bond among students. Schools located in the “middle of nowhere” away from the hustle and bustle of cities stand a better chance of succeeding. Bush schools by default cast their eyes beyond academics.Nature becomes an integral part of a school. A school in the bush is forced to achieve some degree of self sufficient in many areas. Some run successful gardens and farms. Students as well can get first hand experience in farming ,a skill which would become handy at a later date. Nature surrounding the school adds value and spice up school life to make it more exciting and worthwhile. Waking up to singing birds and not alarms can be therapeutic while helping students to appreciate the value and beauty of nature. Studying as a group under trees, walking together up the hills for health reasons creates the much desirable social cohesion which might be missing elsewhere. Bush offers more than academics .

Hindsight shows that schools have had a narrow totalitarian focus on academics and this has proven to be a complete disservice to humanity. Hitherto, schools continue to churn out educated specialists who are not ready to navigate the rigorous demands of the ever changing life circumstances. Achieving top scores in a test and not knowing how to live in harmony with others is unhelpful.

Thrive as a collective in a hostile and competitive environment can assist in shaping a much more prosperous future. Learning from past and present short- comings schools should be intentional in investing in the total and all an embracing education system. The type of education that focuses on unleashing the potential of students in all spheres of life. some of the human faculties which require a little more attention are strengthening social cohesion , collective survival instincts , a spirit of communalism, mutual survival and appreciation of nature. To experience life in totality, greater care should be exercised when deciding on the locations of schools. The location of a school can become an important factor in character building without necessarily compromising the academic faculty. Bush schools are unique because of their potential to present a good blend of theoretically grounded classroom experiences and life driven training ground.