Keorapetse pleads for study on effects of BCL Mine closure
Onalenna Kelebeile | Tuesday August 22, 2017 16:59
Speaking during a victory celebration at Joseph Anderson Memorial School recently, Keorapetse said the mine closure has resulted in a lot of students’ movement as well as seriously affected economy of many households.
“Set up a task team and conduct a study to establish how the economic situation as a result of the mine closure has affected education in this town and see what could be done to maintain the excellent academic performances that the town is known for,” he said.
He feared that introduction of rental houses for BCL houses may further exacerbate the socio economic situation and student transfers.
Joseph Anderson Memorial School excelled in last year’s final examination scooping position one in the Selebi-Phikwe sub region and position two in Selebi-Phikwe and Bobirwa region. It has also been performing well for the past five years. The management attributes this performance to good teamwork and its implementation of the ministry’s innovation and initiatives through inclusive education, special arrangement for learners with disability, reception and special education classes. For his part assistant minister of Basic Education Moiseraela Goya said Joseph Anderson School has not only raised the profile of Selebi-Phikwe, but has made the entire nation proud.
He said good performance does not come by chance but it is earned. “The school has come this far because of the commitment of its staff especially those who handled Standard Seven classes. They turned themselves into sacrificial lambs to answer the call of duty even beyond normal working hours,” he said.
The minister added that the performance of any school reflects the performance of the entire community in which it is built. He noted that the relationship between student outcomes and school governance could not be overemphasised. “The school has a good history of good performance as evidenced by a consistent record of close to 90% for the last five years.
There are challenges such as inadequate teaching and learning materials, which inhibits performance but this school managed to rise above those challenges,” he said. Goya, however warned the school against complacency and said it is the only thing that could bring the school down. He also said the achievement should not make the school management lose focus on sustaining the good results.