YWCA students suffer as BEC sits on exam results

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Monday March 29, 2010 00:00

Time is ticking away for the lad. He is watching in agony as colleges are closing their doors to new applications for 2010 on Wednesday.

Two months since the Form V examination results were announced, Moseki is yet to know his fate. He is concerned because he is in danger of missing out on tertiary education this year. Moseki is full of hope in life and dreamt of enrolling either at the University of Botswana (UB), the Botswana Accountancy College (BAC), the Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA) or Institutions of Health Sciences (IHS).  The boy from Mmadinare was among the 200 or so students who sat for the BGCSE examinations at the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) private secondary school last year, hoping to supplement their pass mark and begin a new chapter in their lives come 2010.

In 2008, young Moseki, then 18, had not faired so well in English in his Form V examinations at Moshupa Senior Secondary School where he had been a boarding student. He had managed a commendable 38 points in the BGCSE and says only a fail in English disadvantaged him from getting a place at UB, his preferred academic institution. So he decided to correct matters and enrolled at YWCA to write his English paper. Moseki also opted to improve his grades in  Double Science, Business and Commerce, hoping to widen doors for a career in either finance and accounting, architecture, or dentistry.

However, Moseki and other students from YWCA are watching with painful hearts as once again their peers begin a new chapter at tertiary institutions, while Moseki and company are  still waiting for the results of the papers they wrote last year.

Moseki says they have been writing letters to the YWCA, the Ministry of Education and the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) demanding answers and speedy resolution to the problem specially taking into account the fact that leading colleges are closing doors for new applications soon.

The answers have not been forthcoming and Moseki cannot hide his frustrations. He says they have been waiting for any plausible explanation from the school, which in turn faults the BEC, which redirects them back to their school, which again pleads ignorance and innocence. Correspondence from the BEC in response to the students' petition says the answer lies right at the school and they (the likes of Moseki) must go back and seek explanation why their results are still being withheld.

But the YWCA national executive director, Loatile Seboni wrote to the students saying: 'I also note your frustration caused by the uncertainty as to if and when the examinations results will be released to you...I wish to reiterate that we as a school remain extremely concerned... and that it is our wish that the results are released to allow you to make the critical decisions that will shape your lives'. Seboni says the decision to withhold the BGCSE results lies entirely with the BEC for as long as they are investigating the allegations that led to the failure to release the results. She says that the school has cooperated with the examinations body and other organs of the law in providing information deemed necessary to aid the investigations.

Moseki remains perplexed and panicking though: 'I do not know what to do now, or where to go, because we have written petitions to all authorities, but the tertiary institutions I was eyeing, are all closing for new applications this week. My future is at stake.' Moseki.