No More �C Passes� Next Year, Setlalekgosi
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday November 7, 2016 16:57
Despite pumping over half a million pula into the local primary school since she officially started adopting it in 2013, resulting in the overall pass rate improving from 41% to 55.6% last year, the 62-year-old popularly revered as ‘Ausi Pinkie’ has pledged to eliminate the C passes next year, emphasising that the school will only settle for A’s and B’s and nothing else.
Setlalekgosi has asked the school management to provide her with a list of school subjects that are problematic in the area to enable her to source tutors who will camp in the village for four months drilling the pupils, especially the Standard Seven ones, in preparations for the examinations next year.
While she has pledged to foot the bills of the four tutors for the four months period, Setlalekgosi called upon the community of Mookane to join hands and contribute whatever little they can during that period as their support for the education of their community. “You could contribute phaleche, merogo, dinawa, but let us all show commitment to this cause as your efforts also will be very important”. Setlalekgosi also challenged the school’s staff and management to own the vision and the hunger to make history and transform the school’s results forever.
“Next year, I hope to have a reduced load at work and I will have time to focus my energy on this community. I want us to raise the next big entrepreneur, something bigger than me, from this village,” she said to thunderous applause.
Since she formerly adopted the school in 2013, Setlalekgosi’s continuous commitment and contributions to the local school have been remarkable. When the local primary school’s Standard Seven results improved to 55.6% last year, she had also organised a study camp for the Standard Sevens, where the pupils were even bought grocery, beverages, bread, food for the duration of the camp. Today all its classrooms wear the look of a well looked after school.
They look new, the surrounding is refreshing with green gardens all around; the school is fitted with electricity; the assembly area is well paved, while the head teacher’s office is also air conditioned, fitted with computers, Internet, printer, to name but a few.
It is not surprising that this year Mookane Primary School was chosen as the few ones to pilot government’s pre-school programme on a fulltime basis. It was a glittering event as the community turned in large numbers to witness about 57 graduating from the pre-school programme, as the first ever would be Standard One pupils to communicate in English. Turning to the pre-school pupils, Setlalekgosi expressed her delight at seeing history in the making, and said she was looking forward to hosting them at her 70th anniversary celebrations, when this group complete their Standard Seven in eight years time.
In a related story in our last edition we erroneously reported that Setlalekgosi will be turning 70 this year. She is in fact only 62 this year.