OSHAKATI – The Iipanda Ya Amiti Combined School held its annual prize giving on Friday to motivate and encourage learners in a bid to boost the school’s passing rate in the Junior Secondary Certificate Examination (JSCE). The school is situated in the Etayi constituency in the Omusati Region.
The principal, Lukas Nashilundo, noted that despite the challenges that the school is facing, it is evident that the initiation of the prize giving has helped increase the school’s passing rate from 29.3 percent in 2007 to 77 percent in 2012. “Despite being a cluster centre, the school has no administration block or a school hall,” he said, adding that the school would like to introduce vocational subjects to help learners who are not coping with the present curriculum.
Also speaking at the event was the school’s patron, Iipumbu Shiimi, who is also the Governor of the Bank of Namibia, who enchanted the learners with stories to motivate and encourage them to excel in school and become successful in life. Shiimi cautioned learners against bad behaviour and urged them to desist from alcohol, excessive cellphone usage and bad friends. “If you do not fight, you will not win. Do not win the battle, win the war,” Shiimi said. He also encouraged parents to spend time with their children at home and to mould them into upright citizens. The event witnessed the best learners from pre-school to Grade 10 receiving different prizes in different categories.
By Nuusita Ashipala