By OBAKENG MAJE
16 January 2025- The North West Premier, Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi said his province’s back-to-school campaign, which experienced little hiccups on the first day of schooling is indicative of a government hard at work. Mokgosi visited Dirang ka Natla Comprehensive School and Khuma Primary School at Khuma Township, outside Stilfontein on 15 January 2025.
He further said Dirang Ka Natla Comprehensive School recorded a pass rate of 90.1% with 33 distinctions in their 2024 Senior Certificate final examinations. Mokgosi added that this represents an improvement of over 10% from the 2023 matric results at this school.
“The visits come immediately after the announcement of provincial results by the North West MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi, where the province achieved 87.5% pass rate, retaining 4th position in the national senior certificate results.
“The commitment of learners, teachers, School Governing Bodies (SGBs), parents and government officials on the first day of the re-opening of schools serves as a glimmer of hope that the province will achieve beyond the 2024 results,” he said.
Mokgosi said a foundation has already been laid for the Grade 12 learners and 2024 results give credence to this assertion. He said, therefore, Grade 12 learners cannot disappoint them.
“You must work hard and surpass the 2024 results. Our government is looking at introducing breakfast at all deserving schools in the province to cushion learners against high levels of poverty in economically depressed communities.
“We have introduced breakfast at 300 schools across the province and through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), we are feeding over 70 000 learners in our schools at a cost of R650 million,” said Mokgosi.
He also applauded teachers and management of Khuma Primary School for producing national athletes. Mokgosi said the school, which is the Alma Mater of the late Bafana Bafana star, Philemon Masinga, continues to be the pride of the province in various sporting codes.
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