Drug use among students on the rise and worrying
Indulgence in drugs and alcohol has a negative impact on teaching and learning in the Kgatleng district and parents have been urged to take keen interest in their children’s education to ensure academic success.
According to the Kgatleng Regional Director Mothusi James, schools in his region, both primary and secondary have been infiltrated by drugs and alcohol. He is worried that a significant number of cases have been registered in the different schools during their stop and search operations.
This year alone up to March, Kgatleng secondary schools registered 55 boys and 10 girls found in possession of dagga, cigarettes and alcohol. In 2022, 117 boys and 15 girls were found in possession of different drugs, and in 2021, 67 boys and 11 girls were caught with drugs in school premises. Over the three-year period, 21 boys and a girl were found in possession of drugs in primary schools alone.
“I appeal to parents to come to the party and assist schools root out drug abuse by our children. Our Guidance and Counselling departments are making efforts to address the serious challenge,” James said.
He added that through the engagement with Police, dikgosi, District Council, DHMT, S’brana Psychiatric Hospital as well as parents, this challenge can be resolved. He urged parents to closely monitor their children and ensure
that they know where they are at given times and what they are involved in.
James who was speaking at the annual Kgatleng District Excellence Awards ceremony on Friday said infiltration of drugs and alcohol in schools undermines the efforts of the District Council to promote excellence in the region. “The road to excellence is a long one that needs us to deal with the indiscipline that is highly manifested in our schools,” he said.
The Excellence Awards, the brainchild of Council Chairman, Daniel Molokwe, were started last year with a view to motivate learners and teachers, as well as the educational regional team to achieve academic excellence.
James explained that the initiative supports the regional strategy that promotes competitiveness in the learning environment. He said the promotion of academic excellence also augurs well with the national Vision 2036, which views human capital as critical in the development of the country.
The Regional Director highlighted that the Ministry of Education through the Digitalisation Transformation programme is doing its bit by supplying learners with gadgets to enable them to become 21st Century learners.
Under Phase One, in 2022 all senior secondary school students were provided with laptops and tablets. Phase Two of the programme is to resume with Junior secondary schools in 2023/24 and Phase Three with primary schools in 2024/25.
Awards were given to best students in PSLE, JSS and BGCSE, school with quality results, that is, with more A and B grades, best improved students, best improved school and best student with disability, among others.
The latter was in recognition of the efforts by Matsieng Primary school that houses a Special Education Unit. “Kgatleng is a hub for special education and Matsieng has a unit for the blind, who upon completion proceed to
Linchwe Secondary school then Molefi Senior,” the Regional Director said.
Kgatleng Council Chairman, Daniel Molokwe said the annual Excellence Awards were mooted in 2022, after the realisation that schools in the region were registering low results.
“I first visited schools to engage with teachers and school management followed by a stream of kgotla meetings to further engage with the business community and parents on how we can all work towards improving the results,” Molokwe said.
They have since witnessed an improvement in results, with Molefi Senior Secondary school, which was traditionally known for being among the lowest performing in BGCSE, improving three places up, nationally.
Best performing student in the 2022 BGCSE results from Molefi, Lily Mashabe encouraged both students and parents to work together to achieve excellence in academics. She regretted that while teachers try their best to help learners, parents often lag behind in their children’s education.
“My parents supported me all the way and in school, teachers were supportive as well. Even though the environment at school was not always conducive, I had to persevere and be disciplined because of the support I received,” she said.
Mashabe topped Molefi Senior with five A* and two As.