BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

THE South African National Roads Limited strengthened their working relationship with North West province. The road agency hosted an outreach programme in Mahikeng recently.

Market Square was a hive of activity when (SANRAL) visited the centre on Saturday (29 August 2015), to engage with the local community. Local radio station, Mafikeng FM was broadcasting from the centre and provided excitement with their popular presenters.

Two high schools, Leteane and Barolong pupils went head-to-head in an engaging quiz hosted by SANRAL. The representatives came out in their numbers to support the learners and were keeping scores to ensure that the competition runs smoothly and it is fair to the participants.

The SANRAL school quiz enabled the agency to engage with the community, educate people and also award the prizes to the deserving schools.

David Sebopela, a teacher at Leteane High School said: “I am highly motivated by the SANRAL outreach programme coming to schools and working hand-in- hand with the Department of Education. This initiative will enlighten students and by extension even the community about the role of SANRAL, what the agency actually does. We are very pleased by our win and that will help us in nurturing pupils to make sure they reach greater heights.”

The first prize for the winning school was a mobile library worth R25 000 fully equipped with reading material suitable for high school learners while the runners-up walked away with a R5 000 cheque. The participating schools were given SANRAL’s bi-monthly publication, By The Way, to read and prepare for the quiz. They were then tested on the contents of the bulletin.

Fezile Zozi, Barolong High School teacher said: “The initiative of bringing SANRAL to the communities will make people aware of the agency. We started with our preparations in about two weeks and the students were very excited. Even though we did not win, we are still adamant that we gave the winners a run for their money. School competition is healthy and stretches the best out of our pupils. This is an investment to our youth.”

Northern Regional Manager for SANRAL, Ismail Essa said: “It is telling that the learners have prepared very well for the quiz as this is not something they learn at school everyday. I was impressed with the level of knowledge those learners displayed. It showed that they took this seriously and read the newsletter.

The schools battled it out over six rounds of questions and both schools started out slowly before they got into the swing of things.

Leteane High School emerged victorious and claimed the mobile library with books to the value of R25 000. Barolong High School did not leave empty handed as they grabbed the R5000 cheque.

Tshegofatso Mantsi from Leateane High School could not hide her excitement after they were announced as the first prize winners. She said: “I feel so honoured, I am happy for our school. The library is going to help me a lot with my studies and possibly learn more about SANRAL.”

-TDN

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