24 Feb 2025

All schools will re-open today after closing last week Wednesday due to heavy rains that caused flooding, Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education Dr Nono Kgafela-Mokoka has said.

Updating the nation on Botswana Television yesterday, the minister said all the schools would re-open countrywide except in Kgatleng where schools were still used as evacuation centres.

Dr Kgafela-Mokoka  advised parents to work with teachers in ensuring children’s safety while at home. In an interview, Kgatleng District Commissioner, Ms Kolobetso Sejakgomo indicated that the schools were not ready to receive students.

She said the schools were part of the eight evacuation centres providing shelter to over 800 flood victims. MP for Kgatleng West, Ms Unity Dow, said most schools in the district needed to be repaired and cleaned before classes could safely resume.

Ms Dow further urged the public to unite and lend their support, whether through volunteering, donating supplies or offering temporary accommodation to displaced individuals.

She emphasised the importance of collective action and highlighted the need for Bakgatla, in particular, to step up and provide shelter for displaced individuals, thereby relieving government, the burden of addressing the crisis alone. ENDS