News / Africa
Pilgrimage keeps Zezuru students out of school
06 Jun 2016 at 07:02hrs | Views
The head teacher for Botshabelo Primary School, Malebogo Mthunzi has said that her school is faced with the challenge of pupils of Bazezuru tribe who abscond from school at the end of August until end of the year to attend a pilgrimage in Zimbabwe.
Mmegi reported that Speaking during the First National Bank shoe donation at the school last week, the school head said her school has a considerable number of pupils of Bazezuru tribe and that usually when the period of the pilgrimage arrives, parents travel with them to Zimbabwe until the end of the event. She said this affects their studies as they miss examinations.
"It is a challenge because when they return we are forced to make them repeat while they want to progress to the next classes. We are trying our best to sensitise parents on this," she said.
The school head also said the school currently has an enrollment of 731 students but the number fluctuates depending on the status of the BCL mine. She also noted that the school absorbs many students from surrounding cattleposts whose attendance and punctuality sometimes is a problem but added that they are able to minimise the number of dropouts.
She was happy that her school was able to achieve an 87 percent pass in the last Primary School Leaving Examinations despite the fact that the school went for four weeks without food supply.
Chief Education Officer in Selebi-Phikwe region, Lillian Matshameko said their wish is to see every child attending school and performing well. She said this is only possible if children have all the basic needs hence the
FNBB donation provides an enabling environment.
"We often fail to reach the 100 percent pass mark mainly because children fail to attend school well as a result of shortage of basic needs," she added.
Selebi-Phikwe East MP, Nonofho Molefhi said education is very expensive hence it is upon every parent to make sacrifices to meet their children's needs. He said where government is lacking, parents must come in and decried that men are lagging behind when it comes to their children's education.
He said abuse of children must be condemned at all costs and regretted that some parents tend to turn a blind eye and fail to report this.
"If we can establish that parents fail to report child abuse cases they will face the wrath of the law. We are also disturbed by teenage pregnancies and all perpetrators must face the music because it destroys the future and psychological wellbeing of the child," he added.
FNBB donated 743 pairs of shoes to the school and since the initiative started in 2001 the bank has used P40 million in charitable programmes. It donates 3,724 pairs of shoes across the country annually. The bank representative, Kegomoditswe Mosupi said the donation came at an opportune time because it is winter. He said the bank's gesture does not mean that parents should neglect their responsibilities.
Mmegi reported that Speaking during the First National Bank shoe donation at the school last week, the school head said her school has a considerable number of pupils of Bazezuru tribe and that usually when the period of the pilgrimage arrives, parents travel with them to Zimbabwe until the end of the event. She said this affects their studies as they miss examinations.
"It is a challenge because when they return we are forced to make them repeat while they want to progress to the next classes. We are trying our best to sensitise parents on this," she said.
The school head also said the school currently has an enrollment of 731 students but the number fluctuates depending on the status of the BCL mine. She also noted that the school absorbs many students from surrounding cattleposts whose attendance and punctuality sometimes is a problem but added that they are able to minimise the number of dropouts.
She was happy that her school was able to achieve an 87 percent pass in the last Primary School Leaving Examinations despite the fact that the school went for four weeks without food supply.
Chief Education Officer in Selebi-Phikwe region, Lillian Matshameko said their wish is to see every child attending school and performing well. She said this is only possible if children have all the basic needs hence the
FNBB donation provides an enabling environment.
"We often fail to reach the 100 percent pass mark mainly because children fail to attend school well as a result of shortage of basic needs," she added.
Selebi-Phikwe East MP, Nonofho Molefhi said education is very expensive hence it is upon every parent to make sacrifices to meet their children's needs. He said where government is lacking, parents must come in and decried that men are lagging behind when it comes to their children's education.
He said abuse of children must be condemned at all costs and regretted that some parents tend to turn a blind eye and fail to report this.
"If we can establish that parents fail to report child abuse cases they will face the wrath of the law. We are also disturbed by teenage pregnancies and all perpetrators must face the music because it destroys the future and psychological wellbeing of the child," he added.
FNBB donated 743 pairs of shoes to the school and since the initiative started in 2001 the bank has used P40 million in charitable programmes. It donates 3,724 pairs of shoes across the country annually. The bank representative, Kegomoditswe Mosupi said the donation came at an opportune time because it is winter. He said the bank's gesture does not mean that parents should neglect their responsibilities.
Source - Mmegi
