The new Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School held its first ever prize giving ceremony on Friday to reward students who have been performing exceptionally well in their academic studies and extracurricular activities.
When giving her welcoming remarks, the school head, Obusitswe Motlhageng, acknowledged the difficulties of having to run an institution of 1800 students with only a limited number of 60 teaching staff.
Guest speaker, Choppies marketing manager, Otsile Marole, praised all the stakeholders for their “determination and dedication” in organising the event only a year after opening doors for the first time.
Marole cautioned students against excessive use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
“I have to admit that this has made communication very swift and effective but let me caution you that this is also an addictive activity, which may have a negative impact on your studies. As much as technology makes our lives easy to live, we need to be cautious about how we embrace it,” she said.
Marole also advised the students against the use of recreational drugs and alcohol as well as engaging “in unsafe sex which results in teenage pregnancy”.
The top two performing students for both forms Four and Five were Baaitse Mathumo and Rowinah Kablay, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Patrick Masimolole, who is also the area MP, was expected to grace the event but stormed out before the proceedings, apparently citing poor organisation and time wasting.
In an interview with the Sunday Standard, the head teacher could not be drawn into discussing the reasons for the minister’s early departure.
On other issues, Motlhageng confirmed rumours of the suspension of Form Five students for various “indiscipline” offences. She could not, however, disclose the number suspended.
However, she assured that all the students are expected back in school in time for the commencement of the BGCSE examination on October 8. Form five students have not yet completed the whole syllabus despite being just over a fortnight away from their final examinations.
On staff housing, deputy head teacher, Sekete Ngope, said there was still no accommodation for teachers, with the exception of the school head and deputy. Teachers are currently housed in Gaborone, Block 7.
Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School was officially opened on March 20, earlier this year by Zambian President Michael Sata and currently has over 1800 students, 60 teachers and 60 non-teaching staff.
