BIHL Trust Celebrates Top Achievers in Nokaneng and Kuke Villages

Supporting education and skills development especially among younger generations remains a priority for the BIHL Trust.  In this vein, the BIHL Trust were elated to join teachers, parents and villagers at a heart-warming awards ceremony celebrating top performing students at Nokaneng Primary School and Kuke Primary School on the 12th of October and the 13th of October 2017 respectively. The schools were adopted by the BIHL Trust as part of their Adopt a School programme.

Said BIHL Trust Chairman Major General Bakwena Oitsile, “We are committed to showing our support to schools across Botswana.  Through our programmes our goal is to assist the nation with raising student pass rates and helping these young ones have the exposure to knowledge that every child needs on their road to success. What is vital for us to do as a nation is to strongly encourage a reading culture because with that our children can be continuously inspired to pursue endeavours that empower them to become productive citizens and progress our socio-economy in the long run.”

The children were celebrated for achieving exceptional results for the year thus far. Overall best students were awarded with school hampers. The two schools have faced challenges over the years with reaching the national pass rate target of 76%. Between 2013 and 2016, Nokaneng and Kuke Primary schools’ average pass rate for Standard 7 students have been as low as 34.9% and 24% respectively. The award ceremonies therefore were a much-welcomed opportunity for the schools to commend students while encouraging their peers to strive for excellence as well.

Through the Adopt a School initiative over the years; a partnership between the Ministry of Basic Education and Sebilo Book Services, the BIHL Trust sponsored the transformation of vacant buildings on school properties into fully-fledged libraries, amongst them Nokaneng Primary and Kuke Primary. To complement this initiative the BIHL Trust also partnered with Ministry and Stepping Stones International to embark on a literacy programme. This was aimed at training the Primary School teachers of the schools adopted so that they could teach their pupils to read at their age levels and therefore ensure they progress in their studies.

Concluded Major General Oitsile, “Extra-curricular programmes such as Kumon were developed in Japan and are now used globally, even in Botswana and these enhance primary school students learning capabilities. As a nation we have the same opportunity to develop literacy programmes as competitive as these for our children and make significant progress towards Vision 2036 of a knowledge based society. It is vital therefore that stakeholders in the socio-economy work together to enhance the Botswana local education system. This is why we are so passionate about our literacy programme and other educational initiatives because we understand that access to knowledge for younger Batswana is indeed a form of empowerment and nation building. It therefore remains our passion to be part of bridging the national information gap in this regard whilst also actively working with our stakeholders to encourage a reading culture in schools we are honoured to support.”