OMUTHIYA - A conducive learning environment is one of the factors that contribute to a good education system, however this is the opposite with the under-resourced Limbandungila kindergarten and pre-school, where pupils are taught in a matchbox ramshackle building.
Some children share chairs and desks as they are not enough, and not to mention the few learning materials. Despite the harsh learning environment, one could tell the 29 kids seem to be gaining from the dusty classroom, as they sang English songs and expressed themselves in the Queen’s language when New Era visited the facility on Monday.
The kindergarten is situated at Omadiba B, just on the outskirts of Omuthiya town, and it has been operational since the beginning of the year. It was established by a veteran kindergarten teacher Saima Nangula Sheetekela, whose teaching career started in 1991 in Windhoek.
“The situation is terrible as it gets too hot in this corrugated class, but I have no choice but to carry on and provide early education to these kids. I migrated back to the north in 2014, and I then slowly realised that many of the children have been just roaming around at home. Hence, with the non-functional other kindergarten which I was running in Windhoek, I convinced myself to start a similar project with the little I had and help these children,” she enthused.
“This is my passion and I have been doing this for many years and all I need is support in order to provide quality education to the children. As we stand now, there are few to no proper teaching materials, chairs are few hence some learners are sharing while others stand. We are therefore requesting any assistance from good Samaritans - to come on board,” enjoined Sheteekela who says she holds various basic education qualifications, among them an Early Childhood Development (ECD) certificate.
The facility does not even have a playing ground as well as proper ablution facilities and as such, they rely on using the bush when nature calls, which is not safe for the young kids.
Efforts to source assistance from various people and institutions have been in vain. “This situation is worsened by some parents that do not want to come on board to alleviate the situation even though they are aware of the dire state we are in. Some are failing to settle the monthly enrolment fee, while others fail to provide basic learning materials to their kids. Despite these challenges we are soldiering on, and haven’t sent any child back home because of the failures by parents – doing so will be like punishing the child,” she said.
She also appealed for food and clothing as some kids are from impoverished households.
The kindergarten is registered with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.