By Surihe Gaomas WINDHOEK Education provision in the Khomas Region has reached crisis proportions with requests for the general public to lobby for funds from donors in order to meet the growing educational needs of school children. This concern was raised at a recent constituency meeting where Education Planner, Clemens Hinanifa, presented an update on education in Khomas at Otjomuise. It was said that the Education Directorate currently receives a yearly regional allocation of between N$2,4 and N$2,6-million for use mainly in the extension of classrooms. However, despite the fact that the education sector receives the largest share of the budget every year, it cannot cope with the high demand of placements for learners. This is especially more evident from what Hinanifa termed the “January Phenomenon.” “This is the chaos caused over placements, which is a national problem. There is a dire need for more secondary and primary schools with, for example, more double sessions. With N$2,4-milion you’ll not be able to satisfy the nation’s educational needs,” Hinanifa stressed. The Khomas Region continues to experience a shortage of places due to the high number of influx of learners to the region. “January 2008 might be the same scenario, or worse, if enough money (budget) is not allocated to Khomas Region,” he noted. With demand for education increasing every year, coupled with a limited budget, the situation is likely to worsen. “We are going to see a bottlenecking situation. Even the double-session class scenario will fail, which is currently full to capacity. It is just full of backlogs,” added Hinanifa. He requested the public to assist government in lobbying for more funds from donors to assist in building more classrooms. He believes that, through well-organized committees seeking additional funding from donors, this would help ease the situation. “The community must come in with lobbying for donors, while the Education Ministry and Government level the ground for the process to go faster through the aid of better-organized community committees.” The region did not receive any additional indication of extra funding to the capital projects. “We therefore urge the stakeholder, business people, NGOs and communities to be of assistance and come up with possible solutions on how we can better address the national challenge,” said Hinanifa. As for the Khomas Region, the picture is bleak when looking at the number of classrooms built during the course of last year. During 2005/2006, only 70 classrooms were built, all of which are now full to capacity. “Still a lot of classrooms have to be built because the need is growing, but the budget is limited,” said Hinanifa, adding that only N$1,3-million has been allocated in the budget for 31 classrooms during the 2008 academic year. Some of the areas that benefited from this governmental mission of additional classrooms were Havana settlement area, Goreangab Primary and Secondary Schools as well as Khomas Eldorado Project. As for the community of Otjomuise, the likelihood of having a school during the next academic year seems also unlikely, unless more money is received through the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP). “For 2007 and 2008, Otjomuise might not have a school, and additional funds are our only hope,” said Hinanifa. Besides Otjomuise, other areas in need of more primary and secondary schools are Rocky Crest, Cimbebasia and Havana.