Tonota schools battle accommodation woes
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Friday June 5, 2020 17:35
This was revealed by the Chief Education Officer for Tonota sub-district, Othusitse Namane.
Namane was however, not sure about the date on which the cabins will be availed at Tonota Junior Secondary School (JSS) and other schools within the region.
Tonota JSS was one of the schools hardest hit by the shortage of classrooms before the COVID-19 lockdown.
The situation was so dire that at some point before the coronavirus pandemic, some learners at Tonota JSS took their lessons in a dilapidated poultry structure.
In a telephone interview with Mmegi, Namane further explained that 20 primary schools, seven secondary schools and an English medium school in his sub-district have been refurbished.
He said all the schools in his region had been renovated and were in a conducive condition to accommodate the first batch of learners who were doing Standard 7, Form 3 and 5. Namane said they have also managed to install hand sanitisers and water basins at strategic points in all the 27 schools within the sub-region.
He however, stated that MoBE was working around the clock to make sure that everything would be in place for the remaining batch of students.
He added that efforts were also made to renovate toilets, classrooms and laboratories within all schools in the sub-district in order to make sure that they comply with the social distancing protocols.
When quizzed further about the Tonota JSS poultry house issue, Namane said that he was not in a position to respond about the issue save to state that it has been reported to the director of education in the central region and MoBE.
He also mentioned that two boarding institutions in his region, Shashe River Senior School and Tlhalogang Junior School, have turned their common rooms into dormitories in order to create space to maintain social distancing amongst students.
For his part, the director of education in the central region, Sonny Mooketsi, said that to his knowledge, all the schools in Tonota sub-district are ready for the first batch of learners. He added that all the affected learners in the region reported for school on Tuesday.
In mid-March this year, Mooketsi told this publication that a total of 377 students at Tonota JSS alone were facing shortage of classrooms.