21 Feb 2013

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Peter Siele has advised village development committees (VDCs) to prioritise projects taking into consideration the needs of their villages.

Speaking in a kgotla meeting at Sesung in Letlhakeng Sub-district, Mr Siele said this was because government was not able to carryout all the projects that villages requested and therefore villages should make priorities clear in their requests for projects.

He also explained to residents that the location of senior secondary schools was mostly determined by distance from other secondary schools.

"The location of a secondary school in a certain region does not mean that it will only cater for students from that region, but students from other regions can also be admitted there. This helps in bringing students of various cultures and backgrounds together, which in turn helps to instil appreciation of different cultures and nurtures national unity,” he said.

He said hopefully the Letlhakeng region would be considered for a secondary school when the economy improved.

Mr Siele was responding to concerns from Kgosi Tumiso Tsietso who complained in his welcome remarks that the senior school built in Mogoditshane should have been built in the  Letlhakeng region. Because of this, the village head had said, their children were admitted at distant senior schools such as Ghanzii, Shoshong and Matsha College, something which he said made it difficult for parents to participate in activities such as parents teacher association meetings or honour summons by school authorities if the need arose.

On other issues, residents complained about crop failure, expressing fear that this year the yields might be low, resulting in drought.

The minister also informed residents about the Children’s Act of 2009,  which provided for the rights of the child such as the right to life, but said the act did not encourage indiscipline as some people believed.

The VDC appealed to government to assist in addressing staff accommodation in the village, especially at the local primary school. ENDS