11 Mar 2025

First Lady Kaone Boko has applauded some learners in Dikgatlho Junior Secondary School in Kudumatse for doing well in Science though they did not have laboratory equipment.

Ms Boko, who was handing over donations to the school on Monday, said schools should therefore be given appropriate equipment to enhance learning.

She said school facilities were dilapidated and needed urgent attention making learning difficult.

Thus, she thanked the Botswana Communications Regulatory (BOCRA) for coming on board to ensure that her quest to help children became a success.

On top of the donated items, which include mattresses, toilet papers and sanitary pads on Monday, Ms Boko said BOCRA had pledged ICT laboratory fully furnished with computers and Internet connectivity.

Also, she said BOCRA would support the refurbishment of the science laboratory.

Dikgatlho Junior Secondary School Student Representative Council vice president, Kaone Masego said they were committed to making their school a place where every learner felt valued, inspired and respected.

However, she said they faced a number of challenges such as dilapidated science laboratory and a library, which did not have enough books.

She said their school facilities needed maintenance adding that their dormitories were also in a bad state.

BOCRA chief executive officer, Mr Martin Mokgware said their company had a Corporate Social Investment Policy with the objective of sharing some of its resources with the less privileged members of society.

As such, he said they met with Office of the First Lady in February where they visited Dikgatlho Junior Secondary School where they took a decision to help the school.

Though, they would not be able to help with all the school’s needs, he said it was their hope that once attended to, the learning environment would be conducive for pupils.

He said he was hopeful that the ICT laboratory would bridge the communication gap between the school and the rest of the country.

“It will be used to benefit the students academically and to improve their ICT skills, which will beneficial in the long run,” he said

He further said BOCRA had a mandate to regulate the Botswana’s communications sector, which included broadcasting, Internet and ICT, postal as well as telecommunications.

He said the Communications Regulatory Authority Act, 2012 (CRA Act), required BOCRA to ensure that all areas of Botswana were covered with affordable, quality and safe communications services. 

He said in discharging its legal mandate, BOCRA was alive to the fact that it was a living social corporate being that owed its existence to the society within which it operated. 

“The manpower it employs, the utilities it uses, the roads and other resources that enables it to operate, belong to the society,” he said. ENDS