HRDC HANDS OVER DONATIONS FROM STAFF TO MALATSWAE PRIMARY SCHOOL

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme for the year, the Human Resource Development Council’s CSR Committee identified Malatswae Primary School as a school that could possibly benefit from the HRDC CSR Programme with an aim to improve the school’s performance.

The Committee developed and adopted implementation guidelines with initiatives focusing on; Education and Training, Health Education & Promotion, Environmental Sustainability, Sports Development, response to Natural Disasters and Community involvement.

Malatswae Village is located in the Central District of Botswana, about 110km North West of Serowe. The village has only one learning facility which is Malatswae Primary School. The residents of Malatswae face many challenges including unemployment and abject poverty. The CSR Committee identified the school because it has in the past faced challenges of poor academic performance.

Therefore, HRDC’s intervention came in as a way of contributing towards ensuring that Botswana produces human capital with the right skills to meet the needs of the global economy. Prior to the decision to adopt the school, HRDC embarked on a trip to inspect the school and the learning environment. It was during this trip that a meeting ensued between Malatswae Primary School Management and HRDC Officers where challenges were tabled and supported by empirical evidence to indeed prove that the school has been faced with many challenges leading to poor academic performance. Socially, some of the Learners did not have school uniform items such as jerseys, shoes and socks.

Administratively, it was clear that the school lacked teaching aid materials and necessities to make learning and teaching environment smooth. Stationery, printing peripherals, toners, books, pens, pencils and printing paper were items that Malatswae Primary School was in dire need of. This therefore necessitated CSR Committee to mobilise Staff of HRDC to contribute towards the course, a gesture

that staff embraced whole heartedly. The donation list ranged from; stationery, toiletry, new and used clothing, toys and school shoes etc. Since stationery was at the top of the needs list, through generosity of its Staff members, HRDC donated stationery close to P20 000.00.

It was after reaching the target that HRDC Senior Management, embarked on a trip to Malatswae to hand over the donations. This noble gesture coincided with the prize giving ceremony hosted by Malatswae Primary School on the 21st September 2017 where the donations were handed over to the school by HRDC Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Raphael Dingalo.

During the handing over of the stationery, Dr. Raphael Dingalo stated that, “There is nothing pleasing than seeing a happy child, especially considering that they are the future leaders of our nation.

That is why we as HRDC employees found it imperative to undertake this initiative and dig deep into our personal pockets so as to buy stationery for the school for the benefit of the Learners’’.

Indeed, the donations came at an opportune time for the school as the students especially Standard Seven (7) pupils were preparing for their Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) assessments. Furthermore, Dr. Dingalo explained that, ‘‘The mandate of HRDC is ultimately to improve human life and that includes celebrating good academic and social performance as exulted at this prize giving ceremony. That is aligned to Government’s vision to educate all and shift from reliance on minerals resources to knowledge based economy’’. He concluded by advising the attendees that the school needs all kinds of support from key stakeholders and made an undertaking that HRDC will continue to support Malatswae Primary School to improve its academic performance.