05 Mar 2025

A new junior secondary school was proposed for Ngware in the Kweneng District Development Plan 8 together with Mogoditshane and Mmopane, but was not approved as part of National Development Plan 11 because of limited learner population in the catchment area and due to budgetary constraints.

The Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education Dr Nono Kgafela-Mokoka said when answering questions in Parliament. She said learners from Ngware were currently admitted at either Matsheng JSS in Sojwe, Mphuthe JSS in Letlhakeng and Lempu JSS in Salajwe.

She, however said the school would be considered in the coming National Development Plans alongside other projects. Dr Kgafela-Mokoka said expansion of Mphuthe JSS was part of projects that were implemented through the three year Economic Stimulus Programme.

She said the expansion was primarily meant to provide hostel facilities to accommodate learners from villages surrounding Letlhakeng, usually ferried by donkey carts early in the morning to school and back to their homes late in the evenings.

The minister said the practice negatively impacted the learners’ performance since they had little time to study. She said the problem was addressed by expansion of the school by adding boarding facilities. The school, she said was constructed as 81-stream with 18 classrooms but was now reported to be operating at 51.

Dr Kgafela-Mokoka said the school was initially constructed without boarding facilities until May 2016 when the ministry embarked on the expansion project whose primary purpose was to provide boarding facilities. She said the project was awarded to Liftoff Investments on May 16, 2016 and earmarked for completion on March 15 2017.

The expansion, she said comprised two three storey hostel blocks (boys and girls) with a carrying capacity of 256 learners each, two double storey classrooms blocks comprising of six classrooms each, four double storey staff houses (16 household units), detached staff house, matron and boarding master’s houses, Science Lab, EH Lab, Guidance & Counselling, Admin extension, kitchen extension and sports store.

She said the project could not complete in March 2017 as anticipated due to poor performance by the contractor. She said in 2019 a decision was made to take over completed facilities to relieve the school from the pressure of over-subscription.

She said the facilities that were taken over were hostels, one classroom, 19 staff houses, two three storey hostels from the contractor, while the remaining part of the project was incomplete. Dr Kgafela-Mokoka said the contractor failed to complete the rest of the buildings and was terminated for poor performance in February 2020.

The contractor, she said, took the termination decision to arbitration and the arbitration process took three years and was concluded in 2023. She said the hostel blocks had, however, been handed over and were in use. The Minister said resuscitation of the remaining scope of the project had been budgeted for.

Member of Parliament for Letlhakeng, Brigadier Domcaza Mokgwathi wanted to know the status of junior secondary school that was supposed to be built at Ngware between 2010 and 2012. ENDS