Hon. Freddy Sonakile today visited Batloung Secondary School in Ikopeleng Village and Itekeng Primary School in Tlapeng, Mahikeng.

As part of the School Readiness Monitoring programme by the North West Provincial Legislature, Hon. Freddy Sonakile today visited Batloung Secondary School in Ikopeleng Village and Itekeng Primary School in Tlapeng, Mahikeng.

At Batloung Secondary School, Hon. Sonakile engaged with the school principal, Mr. Moreo. The school is well managed and has a functional, clean, and well-maintained kitchen that supports the nutrition programme. The school is also equipped with CCTV cameras and an efficient scholar transport system. The Department of Education constructed two additional classrooms last year.

The school’s matric pass rate declined from 90% to 83.4%, which was noted as a concern. Further engagement revealed that this was largely due to 21 progressed learners in the matric class. A plan has been devised to address this going forward. The school requires new roofing for older buildings due to leakages and is also in need of tables and chairs, as some learners are currently without furniture.

At Itekeng Primary School in Tlapeng, Hon. Sonakile met with the principal, Mr. Mashao. The school has a shortage of one teacher, resulting in the use of a multi-grading system. The school also faces roofing challenges and a shortage of desks and chairs. Additionally, the scholar transport system is only partially operational and requires intervention from COSATMA.

Hon. Sonakile will escalate the vacancy, furniture shortages and infrastructure challenges affecting both schools to the Department of Education. The scholar transport challenges at Itekeng Primary School will be addressed urgently in collaboration with COSATMA.