More questions surround Shakawe students� future

Gothataone Moeng | Thursday July 3, 2014 06:59

 

Months after its point-blank refusal to allow students to repeat their Form Four and Form Five, the Ministry this week was back in the Shakawe community conceding to the idea. In a Kgotla meeting on Monday, acting minister, Mokgweetsi Masisi, announced that the former students would, from September 3, be allowed back into classrooms to repeat their senior schooling.

The students troubles stretch back to last year, when they missed two terms during their Form Four studies due to delays in the completion of the school as well as fire incidents at Maun SSS, at which they were hosted while the Shakawe school was being completed. The fire incidents meant that their host school was closed and the students were sent back home.

In January 2013, with the school finished and students expected to start school, a further 29 school days were lost due to shortage of water. The students also had to contend with an unconducive learning environment due to inadequate facilities such as science labs, an empty library, problems with the management of the school as well as illicit student-teacher relationships.

The net result of the disruptions was that Shakawe grabbed the national spotlight after recording the country’s worst pass rate in 2013. Yesterday, Arone told Mmegi that the community was happy that the students would be going back to school, but worries persisted that the decision was delayed.

“They have reservations that the decision was delayed, and want clarification on why the ministry came around after so long, having initially refused to accommodate the idea,” he said.

Early this year, a day before Arone was to present a motion before Parliament asking for a special dispensation to allow the students to repeat, the MoESD snuck in a surprise announcement that the students would only be allowed to resit their exams, and would be tutored through the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCODOL). 

Arone’s motion was later defeated, with the Ministry saying that it did not have the capacity to have the former students back in classrooms, as these were already full.

Indications are that the Ministry conceded to Arone’s idea after the former students’ failed to register with BOCODOL. 

Although over 600 students from the school had registered to sit for the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education, less than half of those had registered with BOCODOL for tutoring, Arone said.

Further, the MP told Mmegi that months after the BOCODOL deadline, the tutoring of students had still not begun. 

Yesterday evening, Education Permanent Secretary, Richard Matlhare announced that at least 571 former Shakawe students would be readmitted to the Goodhope, Madiba, Maun, Shakawe and Gantsi senior secondary schools.

“The students will continue their studies in Form Four this year in September 2014 as the third term begins. The readmitted students will sit for their final exams in October 2015,” Matlhare’s said in a statement, which further urged students who had not registered with BOCODOL to do so.

Arone said although he is happy that the students have been given a second chance, he worries that all those affected may not get an opportunity to get back to school. 

“How are we going to make sure that all the students get to classes? We don’t know where they are, and with the girl child, some of them may be pregnant,” Arone said. 

However, he said he had hopes that in the four terms the students will be in school, they will be able to catch up and do well in their final exams.