Taung Primary School hosted its 2024 prize-giving ceremony amid a buzz of excitement on September 13th, honouring more than 60 standout students under the theme, “Mindset Change: A Key to Academic Success”.
Kago Keothepile, a Standard Seven student was the toast of the day, stealing the spotlight as the overall best student, much to the whistles and ululation by the enthusiastic crowd.
The colourful event also featured an inspiring keynote address by Dr Raphael Dingalo, the Registrar of BOTEPCO, who delivered a message that had everyone talking.
Dr Dingalo’s speech centered around the power of a growth mindset, urging students, teachers and parents to change the way they view success.
“What you believe about yourself impacts your success or failure,” Dr Dingalo noted, citing an observation by top psychologist Carol Dweck which simply explains that a growth mindset allows individuals to learn and develop through challenges, rather than seeing abilities as fixed traits.
Dr. Dingalo also linked this idea to Botswana’s Vision 2036, which aims to transform the country into a high-income nation through the four pillars of Sustainable Economic Development, Human and Social Development, Sustainable Environment, and Governance, Peace, and Security.
“The teacher is at the core of our transformation,” Dr. Dingalo remarked, pointing out the government’s efforts to professionalize teaching. He urged the entire community to support teachers in this endeavor, aligning with the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
He urged students and parents alike to “unfix” any fixed mindsets, adopt a growth mindset, and focus on effort and persistence.
To support this shift, Dr. Dingalo shared practical steps to foster a growth mindset, including focusing on the learning journey, incorporating the word “yet” to signify progress, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, and embracing challenges.
In a heartfelt gesture, Dr. Dingalo, through BOTEPCO, gifted the best overall students in their respective grades with a school bag, lunch box, stationery, and a hat.
He also addressed the school’s plea for resources, donating a laptop, toner, and laptop bag to help alleviate their shortage of a printer.
Taung Primary School Principal, Michael Mokute, also took the stage to boast about the school’s recent achievements, which include an impressive quality pass rate of 86.6% last term.
The school head confidently hinted that they were well on their way to hitting the government’s target of 90%.
