COBLENZ – While for some parents the only headache is to choose the most appropriate kindergarten for their child, at Coblenz the only kindergarten in the village is very much dilapidated with dirty rotting painting on the walls and broken windows, while there are simply no toilets. Most parents do not want to send their children to the kindergarten because of the run-down condition of the pre-primary school.
When New Era visited the one-room kindergarten situated in the Okakarara constituency, it found 14 children in a small classroom with barely any learning material and equipment to use for learning. Veronika Shipo, one of two teachers at Coblenz Kindergarten said the kindergarten, which falls under the San community development projects, was opened in 2011, but it has been very hard to keep the tiny school afloat, as there is a shortage of almost everything.
For one, the children have no toys to play with and there are no playground facilities such as swings. “We need toilets and teachers’ accommodation facilities,” said Shipo, showing the cramped tiny room that she uses as a bedroom.
She said other needs at the kindergarten are a lock, a gate, a floor rack, mattresses for the kids, a first aid kit and food. The average age of children attending the kindergarten is four to five years old.
The kindergarten teaches the Bible, Otjiherero, English, pre-maths, environmental studies and art. The Coblenz Kindergarten is desperately seeking assistance, be it in kind or monetary, from good Samaritans to turn it into a flourishing kindergarten for the young ones.
By Magreth Nunuhe