Moroke Sekoboto
PETROLEUM Fund earlier this week donated chairs, whiteboards, markers, and charts to Leratong Primary School in Mafeteng as part of the Petroleum Fund Corporate Social Investment (CSI) policy.
The Fund chose the school after seeing the deplorable conditions at the school in a newspaper report.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Petroleum Fund Interim Chief Executive Officer, Advocate Makanelo Kome, emphasized the need to help vulnerable groups and communities.
Adv Kome said after they were made aware of the condition of the school, they identified chairs as the quickest and most important need for the learners because lessons were conducted while students sat on the floor.
“We have our CSI policy which guides and allows us to bring back to vulnerable people, the community, children, and people with disabilities. As a corporate, we don’t only have our strategic duties, but we also have to think of the vulnerable and marginalized groups,” Adv Kome said.
He said the Fund had assisted vulnerable communities in Leribe, Berea, and other areas with water and clothes donations. Adv Kome revealed that their objective is to help in every district across the country, which is why they had now turned to the vulnerable school in Mafeteng.
Leratong Principal, Malebohang Ntlama, said their daily challenge was to teach children sitting on the floor due because there are no chairs for learners. Ms Ntlama said lack of classrooms is another challenge, as learners from different grades are forced to share a classroom, which makes it difficult for children to concentrate on what they are being taught and hard for teachers to teach properly.
“Our daily challenge starts where we have to teach learners who are sitting on the floor because there are no chairs. We don’t have enough seats, so some bring their own chairs to school, while others sit on empty cases of drinks. We have been struggling since 1988 when the school was established,” Ms Ntlama said
Ms Ntlama expressed gratitude to the Petroleum Fund for helping them even though that was just a portion of the many challenges they face.
“We are grateful to the Petroleum Fund for putting smiles on the faces of young ones and happiness on the teachers and parents. We appeal to the private sector to help us because we only have three classrooms, yet we have seven grades. I teach grades 3,4,5 in a single classroom, so we are overcrowded. Grades 1 and 2 are taught in an old, dilapidated building,” Ms Ntlama said.
