By Seleoe Nonyane
‘Mamotete Sefuthi of Ha Tšosane in Maseru started a study group called Together We Can for children in her neighbourhood and the learners are already reaping benefits as there is now a visible improvement in their grades.
The mother of two told this publication that she decided to start the study group after failing to pay for one of her sons to attend extra classes.
The son, who was doing Grade 9 in 2023, had failed seven subjects in his mid-term exams. This left Sefuthi devastated and disappointed, since it had always been her dream to see her children thrive academically.
She never got the opportunity to finish school herself because she stopped after Standard Seven (Grade Seven).
“I cried so much upon receiving the results, thinking this was the end of the road for my child. But instead of wallowing in my hurt, I thought of a way to help my boy improve his grades.
“I found a place offering extra classes but it was way beyond my budget,” she explained.
Sefuthi said since she could not raise the money to pay for her son’s extra classes, she thought of a study group as the next best thing. The group brought together children in her neighbourhood.
They would meet in her rented home every evening from 7:00pm to 8:30pm during the winter holidays and on Saturdays to study under her supervision.
The group started out with only 10 children in different grades in June 2023, but three more have joined this year.
She said the children are so dedicated to their school work that even when she is not around, they continue with their studies without her supervision or guidance.
“This is also a collective effort as the children’s parents are also involved and THEY help out wherever they can. This initiative also attracted other people from outside with different skills sets and expertise.
“These people hold tutorial sessions for the children. My son used to score an average of 18 percent in quarterly and mid-term tests, coming out in position 52 in a class of 53.
“With a little motivation, his performance has improved markedly and I am going to work even harder this year because of the transformation I have witnessed in a short period of time.”
Sefuthi tries her best to invite professionals who are thriving in their respective careers every Friday to motivate the children and demonstrate that they can achieve whatever they dream of if they put their mind to it.
One person who has taken an interest in the study group is ‘Matlaleng Ketsitse, a professional teacher with a Master of Arts in English from Chandigarh University in India, who resides at Ha Thamae.
Ketsitse says she fell in love with what Sefuthi does and volunteers to help the children with their academic work especially English, while she waits to land a job herself.
“What I love about the children is that they are very motivated and are always willing to work hard,” she noted.
