ONGWEDIVA – Several non-boarding schools in northern Namibia particularly in the rural areas have their learners camping on the school premises for extra classes since the start of the Junior Secondary Certificate examinations last week on Friday.
After observing a high number of failures at certain schools in the rural areas, some schools introduced a programme of having learners camp at school for the duration of the examination period to get extra tuition from teachers.
Although the exercise requires commitment and sacrifice, teachers, parents and the community have dedicated themselves to assist with the daily chores that accompany the initiative, such as providing food and general management of the camping area, in the hope that learners will excel in their exams.
Some of these schools are the Ozizi and Onathinge combined schools in Oshikoto Region that have yielded positive results from the camping system despite the challenges they endure to make the activity a success.
Ozizi Combined School, which is a non-boarding school in the Oshigambo circuit, is one of the schools that have performed exceptionally well since learners started camping at the school in 2010. The school’s principal Matilde Shavuka confirmed the pass rate has gradually increased from 72.8 percent in 2010 to 93.3 percent for the Grade 10 Junior Secondary Certificate exams in 2012.
Onathinge Combined School in Onathinge circuit has also maintained a 100 percent pass rate since 2010. The school that introduced the camping system in 2007 only started seeing some light at the end of the tunnel of examination results in 2010, with much better performances oevrall.
The school’s principal Jeremia Mweendeleli said that this year the learners started camping two weeks prior to the exams to enable them to spend more time with teachers and tackle their problem subjects.
Learners are either accommodated in tents or in provisional classrooms and are supervised by their parents or by volunteers from surrounding areas as is the case at Ozizi Combined School.
“The learners bring along their own mattresses and bedding and each contributes N$200 for the meals for the duration of their stay,” said Mweendeleli.
The two principals concurred that the camping exercise has been very effective over the years as it gives learners and teachers time to revise and help learners in the areas that they find most challenging before they sit for their year-end exams.
Additionally, the exercise relieves learners of their chores at home and gives them ample time to focus entirely on schoolwork.
By Nuusita Ashipala