Windhoek
In an attempt to reduce school dropouts in remote areas, the People’s Republic of China – through the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) – has completed the construction of Talismanus Primary School in Otjombinde Constituency in the Omaheke Region.
The state-of-the-art elementary school, which was built with a N$12 million investment, will cater for Grades 5 to 7, and has the capacity to accommodate 400 learners. The new school will be officially handed over to the ministry of education by the Chinese government on Thursday.
The school will be equipped with 12 standard classrooms, a natural classroom, a music teaching space, a library, as well as a teachers’ office and the principal’s office. Other components of the investment include bathrooms and closets, student desks and chairs for the classrooms, executive-type desks and office chairs for the teaching staff. The main outdoor works include a basketball court, a running track, as well as roads and fences covering an area of about 1 100 square metres.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Johanna Absalom, yesterday confirmed the completion of the elementary school and said the grant of N$12 million is considered one of the biggest investments Namibia’s formal education fraternity has received from CYDF, as part of the ‘Hope Project Going into Africa’.
The CYDF is a non-profit organisation founded in March 1989 in Beijing and works to develop youth through education, science and technology, culture, physical education, health and environmental protection. The CYDF is best known for launching and managing its largest programme to date, ‘Project Hope’, which sought to help school dropouts in remote regions to return to school and complete at least an elementary education.
Absalom said Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company (AFECC) was the main contractor on the project. AFECC) is a large-scale multi-operational enterprise, mainly engaged in international project contracting, mineral resources and real estate development, as well as the operation of chain supermarkets, five-star hotels and spa resort villages.
Since its establishment in 1992 AFECC has undertaken around 100 medium and large-scale projects in 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Oceania, including foreign-aid projects, Chinese overseas embassy buildings, Chinese concessional loan projects and a number of international contracting projects. Currently, AFECC owns 16 five-star hotels in different countries, three diamond mines, one emerald mine, one titanium and zirconium mine, more than 10 supermarkets and more than 100 sites of real estate development.