Safety fears over new Shakawe SSS

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Thursday March 22, 2012 00:00

The MoESD principal public relations officer (PRO) Oarabile Phefo said the school could have opened some weeks back but the building had defects, as brick force was not used when erecting it.  'Now the report is long overdue because after discovering the fault on the walls the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology went ahead to check other components like the floor, and if the entire structure is declared unsafe we will place the students in other schools,' he said.  Already, the students are behind with their studies because the rest of the students who progressed to senior secondary education reported on February 7.

Those admitted to Shakawe Senior Secondary School were scheduled to report this month on a date to be announced. Now, they are faced with two challenges: they are behind schedule and unsure whether there will be places for them as local senior schools are congested.

'We will consult with parents and other relevant stakeholders if these students are to be taken to other schools,' he said.  He added that arrangements would be made so that they are taught separately including on weekends so that they could catch up with the curriculum. Phefo would not name the Chinese contractor that did the shoddy job because the 'Ministry of Infrastructure and Technology is responsible for the buildings'.

This year the MoESD has recorded an increase in the number of students who made a transition to upper secondary education.  Out of the 39,503 candidates who wrote the 2011 Junior Certificate Examinations (JCE), 25,385 have been admitted into Form Four, which represents a transition rate of 63.75 percent - an increase of 2.65 percent from last year's 61.10 percent.

Meanwhile, Phefo said they are facing challenges in deploying teachers to rural areas. He said this in the wake of mass transfers in Ngambao Junior Secondary School in Seronga were close to 19 teachers have been transferred.

To date, though he could not confirm that less than eight of them have been replaced. Asked why the transfers were made, he said mostly they are done when an employee has overstayed in an area or when they want to be closer to their spouses.  'Immediately a transfer is made a replacement is there in place, but the main challenge we face is that people find it unattractive to work there (countryside),' he said.  Asked what government is doing to attract teachers to such areas besides the remote area allowance, Phefo said they have tried to negotiate with the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) to increase it but they have not succeeded. He would not say how much the allowance is, as he did not have the statistics.