Mission schools not discriminated against - Letsholathebe
Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe has denied any knowledge of disparity regarding the provision of infrastructure maintenance, teaching materials, teaching staff and staff accommodation of Mission schools compared to government built schools.
Instead, Letsholathebe explained that the process of providing resources to schools “does not discriminate whether the school is a public school or a Mission school”.
He said the resources are provided based on budgetary provisions and enrolments as identified through his Ministry’s monitoring and supervisory mechanisms. He said the challenges mentioned are due to budgetary
constraints rather than by design.
The minister explained that government has entered into formal Memoranda of Understanding with the churches where it is crystal clear that the mission school is operated by government and pastoral by the Church.
“My Ministry provides annual subventions to secondary Mission schools for their daily operation covering all aspects except salaries for teachers, which are paid centrally”.
He added that at Primary, Mission schools or Government Aided schools are maintained by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, which also provides teacher accommodation. Teaching materials in the form of textbooks which are provided by his Ministry, are based on the budget allocated, books available and the enrolment of a school, and not based on whether the school is a mission school or public school.
Letsholathebe was answering a question asked by the Member of Parliament for Mahalapye West, David Tshere. He said as for maintenance and infrastructure development the Ministry has supported St Joseph’s College, for example, during the 2015/16 Development budget with additional staff houses and built others at Moeding College during the provision of the 2017/18 budget. Public schools also received their share across the country.
Further that during the 2022/23 Development budget major upgrading to Moeding College sewage system has been carried out and provision has been made for maintenance of their oldest staff houses.
He said that four senior schools, one Junior Secondary and 12 Primary schools have been adopted from the missions. According to the minister, the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) provided Maun
Senior Secondary and Moeding College whilst the Roman Catholic Church provided Mater Spei and St Joseph’s Colleges, Setlalekgosi Junior Secondary School and all 12 primary schools.
He said at the time of takeover, government agreed to build additional infrastructure for expansion including teaching space and accommodation for learners and teachers, while the Missions, at Secondary level, were to maintain the buildings through a minimal annual budget provision under the recurrent allocation, similar to the one provided to public schools.
Primary schools were to benefit just like any public school. Government was also to ensure quality delivery of the curriculum by providing the necessary resources such as placing teachers, supervising and paying them while the Missions were to take care of the daily upkeep of the schools through their administrative provisions.
Government was to recruit teaching staff at Primary level and take care of their wages, Professional development and welfare. The missions agreed to provide the infrastructure and governance of the schools.
He explained that the agreement between the missions and the government still stands and in some cases the parties have entered into formal Memoranda of Understanding with the churches, and that government expected the Missions to take good care of the infrastructure provided and engage Government on any issues in need of attention.
He said MOUs have been signed which stipulate the roles and responsibilities of each party, and that the MoU allows for termination which can be initiated by either party if they so feel that the MoU is no longer serving its purpose or that the terms have been breached or compromised in some way.