Parents and community members are urged to be actively involved with the government in the education of children, to improve learning.

KOPANONG Mashudu Primary School in Swanieville was officially opened by MEC Mandla Nkomfe and a host of other City and provincial officials during an Education Imbizo held to check on school readiness.

The executive mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane took the opportunity to encourage the community to work with the government to improve the culture of learning and teaching in schools. He urged active parental involvement in children’s schooling, and rallied communities to protect schools and help learners where they could.

The imbizo was convened late in the afternoon after schools were visited by Seerane; various Mogale City councillors; the MEC for social development, Ntombi Mekgwe; and Nkomfe, in the morning. They had visited schools to review their readiness and encourage educators and learners to perform better than in the previous academic year.

Similar visits and imbizos are being held across the province.

Speaking to more than 500 community members gathered under a huge marquee erected on the school’s sports field, Seerane appealed to “all and sundry” to work with the government.

“It is an important day for Mogale City not only because we are opening a new school, but to celebrate the good results by the Lodirile Secondary School,” he explained. “This school has done us proud and we are saying those results will keep coming. The results will continue to come if we [parents, learners, teachers and the government] work together in a bid to improve the culture of learning and teaching in our schools.”

Lodirile, in the poverty-stricken township of Swanieville, was opened in 2005. The first group of learners to write matric at the school, in 2008, did the school proud, achieving a 100 percent pass rate.

Seerane went on to urge parents to be serious about their children’s education. He insisted parents take full responsibility for the education of their children and not pass the buck to the teachers, especially when the chips were down.

“It is very important for parents to spend quality time with their children on educational matters. For the class of 2011 to produce good results, we need to work together and strive for better results … As government we would also like to implore parents to take ownership of the education of their children and not blame teachers when our learners are not doing well in class,” he said.

“Research has shown that there is a correlation between poverty and lack of education. The municipality is playing its part in assisting deserving learners with tuition fees for their preferred fields of study to offset this inability to pursue educational goals because of financial constraints on families.”

Seerane, who is passionate about education, has established the Mayoral Bursary Fund to help deserving learners in Mogale City further their studies. The fund is located in the Office of the Mayor and so far has helped more than 400 students with registration at accredited tertiary institutions.

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