Ohangwena school needs classrooms
Learners use break to queue for toilet
Home to 305 learners, the school has five permanent classrooms, five pit latrines and four sheds.
Teachers and learners at Nghifikwa-Ndailikana Junior Primary School in the Ohangwena Region are pleading for any organisation to assist the school with a three-classroom block and additional ablution facilities to ease the hardship they endure.
So dire is the situation that learners are forced to spend most of their break time queuing to use the toilet.
In a letter dated 28 July, principal Abed-Nego Nghifekelwa said the school was established in 2016 and boasts 305 learners from pre-primary to grade seven. Of this total, 40% of learners hail from marginalised communities, he said.
Located in a remote area of the region approximately three kilometres from the Angola-Namibia border, the school currently has five permanent classrooms and four sheds that accommodate grades five to seven, the principal said.
Difficult
“This makes it difficult for effective lessons, especially during the rainy season as classes have to be suspended. Moreover, the school’s sanitation facility does not accommodate all learners, given the increasing number of learners each year,” Nghifekelwa wrote, adding that the school only has five pit latrines – meant to cater to 305 learners and eight teachers.
He confirmed the authenticity of the letter to Namibian Sun.
“The socio-economic status of the community within the school setting has made it difficult for the school to facilitate most of its activities. Most of the parents are subsistence farmers and do not have fixed income,” he said.
The principal indicated that the school’s list of needs is endless, and includes a garden, a pre-primary playground, netting fences, sport facilities, a computer and a photocopy machine.
“The school management has prioritised on dire needs. Hence the school is pleading for any organisation to assist with a three-classroom block and some additional ablution facilities,” Nghifekelwa wrote.
In the queue
Ohangwena education director Isak Hamatwi confirmed that Nghifikwa-Ndailikana school is one of those in the queue for necessary assistance from the directorate.
He said government cannot do it alone, adding that the regional leadership would appreciate it if Good Samaritans could come to their aid to eradicate some of the challenges schools in the region face.
So dire is the situation that learners are forced to spend most of their break time queuing to use the toilet.
In a letter dated 28 July, principal Abed-Nego Nghifekelwa said the school was established in 2016 and boasts 305 learners from pre-primary to grade seven. Of this total, 40% of learners hail from marginalised communities, he said.
Located in a remote area of the region approximately three kilometres from the Angola-Namibia border, the school currently has five permanent classrooms and four sheds that accommodate grades five to seven, the principal said.
Difficult
“This makes it difficult for effective lessons, especially during the rainy season as classes have to be suspended. Moreover, the school’s sanitation facility does not accommodate all learners, given the increasing number of learners each year,” Nghifekelwa wrote, adding that the school only has five pit latrines – meant to cater to 305 learners and eight teachers.
He confirmed the authenticity of the letter to Namibian Sun.
“The socio-economic status of the community within the school setting has made it difficult for the school to facilitate most of its activities. Most of the parents are subsistence farmers and do not have fixed income,” he said.
The principal indicated that the school’s list of needs is endless, and includes a garden, a pre-primary playground, netting fences, sport facilities, a computer and a photocopy machine.
“The school management has prioritised on dire needs. Hence the school is pleading for any organisation to assist with a three-classroom block and some additional ablution facilities,” Nghifekelwa wrote.
In the queue
Ohangwena education director Isak Hamatwi confirmed that Nghifikwa-Ndailikana school is one of those in the queue for necessary assistance from the directorate.
He said government cannot do it alone, adding that the regional leadership would appreciate it if Good Samaritans could come to their aid to eradicate some of the challenges schools in the region face.
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Namibian Sun
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