As schools across the country raced against time to comply with requirements ahead of today’s re-opening, Lotsane Senior School in Palapye this week declared its readiness to welcome back students and resume learning.
Thanks to the timely help of the school’s 1999 alumni, the school has complied with all the requirements set out by the Covid-19 Task Force and the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
The Executive Committee of Lotsane SS led by its Chairperson, Samuel Letsholo, on Friday officially handed over seven boards carrying Covid-19 messages to the school management.
The boards have been erected at strategic areas across the school compound.
This was the second donation to the school mad by the 1999 alumni.
In their first project in 2019, they donated 90 desks worth P24 000. “Our second project was supposed to be the school library. We were in the process of procuring books for the library, but due to the Covid-19 emergency we decided to respond to the school’s immediate need,” said Letsholo.
The team also donated 99 face masks to be given to the less fortunate students. “We settled for 99 masks, because it’s a number we associate with. It is no surprise that the entire exercise cost us P9. 999,” said Letsholo, adding that they’ve not abandoned their initial plan of filling up the school library with books.
In her remarks, the Deputy School head- Boago Senosi, applauded the ’99 group for their efforts.
Senosi said their gesture shows that they really have the school at heart. “The community is also beginning to notice what you’re doing, and like the saying goes ‘when you give you also prosper’,” she said.
Meanwhile the School’s Covid-19 Coordinator, Nliwa Mongwa, told The Voice that the school is now compliant with all the regulations and ready to welcome students. “We’ve done a lot of maintenance work in the ablution areas for both boys and girls. We’ve also installed water stations and refurbished the kitchen. We’ve covered a lot of ground,” revealed Mongwa.
He said with 600 students in the boarding facilities, they had to find ways to ensure that social distancing is observed at all times.
Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) offered to take in the boys, while the girls will use the entire boarding facilities at the school.
“We’ve engaged the Ministry of Basic Education to help transport the boys daily. This also means the Boarding Master has also relocated to BIUST,” he said.
Mongwa further told The Voice that complying with the requirements proved a costly exercise. “We’d have done more if we were not constrained by funds, but we’ve managed to procure everything we thought we might need,” he said.
