Dow must acknowledge both best, worst performers
Innocent Selatlhwa | Friday March 3, 2017 15:42
Just a few days after the release of the Junior Certificate Examinations (JCE), Basic Education minister, Unity Dow hosted top performing Nanogang Junior Secondary School teachers and students briefly at the Ministry headquarters. A day after the release of Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE), Dow was officiating at a celebratory ceremony at the top school, St Joseph’s College.
However, the Minister and her assistant, Moiseraela Goya are yet to visit Tshimologo Junior and Shoshong Senior secondary schools and indeed any other school to give a word of encouragement to students and teachers there.
Observers are of the view that as much as those who did well deserve to be celebrated and shown appreciation by their custodian, teachers and learners at schools with the worst results need the Minister’s attention even more.
They need assurance that their persisting problems, which they are told will be dealt with yearly, will be resolved.
During her JCE press briefing, Dow said there was need for research to establish what causes poor results. There is no doubt that visiting these poor performing schools would give her some answers on why the schools fail.
In a recent interview with the Gantsi regional director, Mpho Isaiah, who bemoaned that their schools had so many challenges, said that teachers are disgruntled, and there is shortage of resources.
This calls for the Minister to address, motivate her staff and instil confidence in both teachers and students that they can do better, not to give up. Reliable sources informed Mmegi that dilapidated Shoshong Senior has changed school heads six times in a space of five years.
This screams crisis, which needs the Minister’s intervention. Although it cannot be expected for the Minister to visit all schools, there are those which need her more and urgently.
Even though the regional director for Central could not be reached for clarification, a source within the school said the Minister is yet to visit the troubled school, which had only just 12% of its students obtain C or better in five or more subjects.
Botswana Sector of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) is of the view that the Minister is in denial hence the ‘save face tactic’. “There is nothing wrong with the Minister celebrating with top schools, but she should also show that she recognises that the results are generally bad. By accepting that things are not going well, she will be in a position to come up with solutions,” BOSETU secretary general Tobokani Rari said.
He said through their media releases following the results, they stated that they are open to talks with the Ministry, but the Minister is reluctant to engage them.
The Ministry of Basic Education noted that the academic performance at JCE and BGCSE although marginally improved, is still far below. “As such, the Minister and her team will, through various fora, engage other stakeholders to close gaps that negatively impact the education system,” Basic Education public relations officer, Gorata Mokaloba said.
She said: “The Minister has indeed addressed Nanogang and St. Joseph’s College on a number of issues including their good performance in the recent examination results. In addition, the Ministry has a policy to support schools as per their respective needs”.
She said the Minister assigned two deputy permanent secretaries to visit Tshimologo JSS within January as part of the ongoing teacher support mechanisms to turn around underperforming schools.
“The Ministers are committed to visit schools as and when time allows for various reasons alongside that of school support.
It is worth noting that the Minister may not visit all schools, but has a sophisticated quality assurance system to interact with the schools,” she said.