No payment, no certificate - school heads
Baboki Kayawe | Thursday October 10, 2013 22:57
This has resulted in some youth in Jamataka village forming a group that aims at empowering people; chief among their mandate is to settle students' debts resulting from lost textbooks, other stationery and development fees.
In a previous interview with Mmegi, the group chairperson lamented that it hurts to see someone who scored more than 36 points in their Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Examinations (BGSCE) eking out a living through the Ipelegeng programme.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) performance audit setting recently, the permanent secretary for education, Grace Muzila said her ministry did not approve of such.
She said students' should not suffer for their parents' inability to pay, including those who are found vandalising school property. She said the rate of payment for lost books, development fees and damaged property in schools is low at the moment leading to a 'willing parent pay' system to avoid victimising learners.
When seeking clarity on the matter, the spokesperson in the Education Ministry, Silas Sehularo said this is a widely communicated position to schools and education regional directors nationwide.
The ministry is aware of such cases because occasionally students call the headquarters for intervention and the issue is at the apex of complaints during Kgotla meetings.
However, he advised that students should follow the necessary procedure in that they needed to bring along guardians or parents to their respective schools prior to the release of certificates.
'On many occasions students would be sent home to fetch parents who are required to commit and agree to a payment plan but they never return,' he said.
In the event that guardians and parents are unable to find a means of repayment, the department of social services is brought in to assist learners who find themselves in this situation.
'This has been well communicated through writing to all the relevant stakeholders,' he said, adding, 'Our position in the ministry is that students should not be prohibited from collecting certificates on grounds that they owe the school,' Sehularo said.
Although MoESD does not desire students' progress to be hampered by unsettled debts at previous institutions, the resolution adopted by the ministry is double edged because other crops of students suffer due to lack of textbooks. Sehularo encouraged parents to do their best and pay to avoid recurrence of unavailability of learning material.
When asked about the extent of textbooks shortage as a result of the 'willing parent pay' system, which is by default on practice he said, 'shortage of books due to failure to replace those lost is not that critical, it is not an issue that can cripple us', though it is of concern.
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Kanye North, Kentse Rammindi who is also a member of the PAC recently condemned the system arguing that it escalated the ministry's expenses, especially in instances where students are found to have vandalised school property. He called for a cost effective policy governing the maintenance of schools and their property.