Former learners of Segopotso Secondary School organised a gala dinner in honour of their former principal, Mr Maurice Koola at Boa Fe wedding centre recently.

Mr Maurice Koola started working at Segopotso in 1980 up until 1996. It was during his tenure at the school that he earned his respect from the community and the region.

Mr Koola inherited the community that was highly disorientated by the then apartheid government through a forced removal from their ancestral land of Bojelakgomo to Laxey. Young as he was and full of energy he started participating in the community rebuilding process. As a school principal and in collaboration with the community, he initiated the process of building the first middle school in that community because back then the community only had a primary school.

 It was at that stage that he realised that most of the potential learners were lavishing on the streets not attending school. He made it his responsibility to drive the go back to school campaign and influenced most of them. Today most of his learners are leaders in their own right. During his tenure at the aforementioned school he introduced many programmes that allowed all learners to participate in different activities of the school. It is not an exaggeration to say that most of the outstanding leaders and individuals produced by that community have his signature on their careers.

He played a significant role in some of the community programmes even outside the school premises, like recreational activities and social activities etc. Strict as he was, former learners came to realise the values he instilled in them and their relevance in today’s turbulent world. Hence his learners coined the theme “The pebble that you threw into the Laxey stream, we still see its ripple effects”.

It took him less than a year to position the community school among the best at the time and the school started to attract learners from neighbouring schools and the region at large. The school excelled in school results, sports and debates at the time. He was instrumental in ensuring that most of the teachers we had back then could go and find proper teaching qualifications as back then qualified teachers were scarce.

The occasion was graced by the head of department of the Northern Cape, Mr Tshepo Pharasi, district director of education Mr Vuyani Teise and Mr Kwena Masegela, local mayors and MECs attended the occasion too. Every speaker showered illustrious accolades to Mr Koola for the role he played in transforming the society’s mind set towards education

Mr Maurice Koola started working at Segopotso in 1980 up until 1996.