Phikwe private schools left empty as gov�t stops payments
Olefile Serokolo | Thursday November 23, 2017 16:17
One of the private schools in the town, Mount Pleasant English Medium held a swimming gala recently to bid farewell to about 120 pupils of former BCL employees who are expected to join government schools in the beginning of next year.
Speaking in an interview, the school director, Egna Swaniker explained that the agreement the government had with the parents was that they were going to help them in paying the school fees for a year only, hence the agreement is coming to an end this year.
She further said they also expect to lose another 34 on genuine transfers outside the town, which brings the total number of pupils leaving the school to 154, adding that it meant they would be losing half the number of pupils in the school. She revealed that BCL used to pay school fees on behalf of parents, therefore since most of them have been retrenched they are struggling to pay, hence the reason why they are moving their children to government schools.
Kopano Private School head teacher Levina Granger told this publication during their recent open day ceremony, that the school enrolment stood at 490 when the Mine was fully operational, but has since dropped to 283. She shared similar sentiments to that of Swaniker, saying this was because the BCL Mine used to pay the school fees. So since its closure, parents have been struggling to pay, instead withdrawing their children. Granger said as a result they were forced to lay off about eight staff members. Swaniker also noted that the situation has affected their school badly because they do not get any help from the government, as the school is wholly financed through collection of school fees. She said they would be assessing the situation until next year before taking a decision to retrench.
“At least for now, everyone’s job is safe despite what we are going through. If we look at the budget next year and we realise that we cannot make ends meet that is when we will take a decision to retrench. The employees who are here are catering for about 300 pupils, so if 154 leave, we will be left with almost half of the school which means the income will be reduced by half. We wish the government can come on board and allow us to take so many kids at reduced fees while they take care of the teachers’ salaries,” she said.
Swaniker said if the situation remains the same next year, as a way of saving the dignity of their school, they will make an appeal to the government and other investors to come on board so that they can negotiate on how to use the facility to uplift the education of the town and the country as a whole.
She believes that through their school, they can establish a middle tertiary or a technical college that can be easily utilised by businesses. She is of the view that the town can be turned into an educational hub, which can revive the its economy.