Rural based top achievers celebrated
Correspondent | Friday November 23, 2018 12:50
Central District Council (CDC) has therefore made it its mandate to support students staying in rural settlements by rewarding excellent performance.
Speaking during the CDC Village Development Committee (VDC) annual conference held at Majestic Five hotel recently CDC principal community development officer Josephine Kgolagano said that students who come from rural settlements are disadvantaged compared to their more urban counterparts.
She cited lack of resources and parental guidance as some of the challenging factors they are faced with hence some end up abandoning their academics even though they had potential to do well.
“These are very sad misfortunes those children are faced with some are staying with relatives that neglects them hence are forced to fend for themselves and the only option left for them is to leave school. We are therefore proud to say that despite all those challenges some of the top achievers in our district come from those secluded places.
And by rewarding them we motivate others that they can still make it despite the odds,” she added.
Kgolagano further revealed that they have nine students who scored between 40 – 46 points last year in BGCSE with the best overall student coming from Dimajwe village.
The top achiever Olorato Nkhumisang who scored 46 points is now studying forensics science at Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST). She was rewarded with a certificate and P1,300 cash. Coming second with 44 points were Resego Bailang and Carnelle Maposa who hail from Gojwane and Maposa villages respectively.
When giving her testimony,the top achiever said that hers was not an easy journey, as she had to sacrifice a lot to be where she is.
“All I did was study and study more so as to realise my dream; above all I wanted to make my parents proud and give them a better tomorrow,” she said.
Nkhumisang encouraged “those below me that it is better to suffer during the few years of learning in order to secure a brighter future and enjoy what life has to offer”.
She added that prayer also played an important role in her excellence noting that with God everything is possible and students should learn to put God first and the rest will follow. Nkhumisang said that it does not matter where one comes from as long as they know what they want in life.
She therefore advised children from rural settlements to take education as one of their escape weapons from the dire adversities they are faced with stating that it is the only way to secure a bright future. Moreover, she said they have to do away with peer pressure since it is one of the challenges that draw back most learners.