RUNDU – The Director of Education in Kavango East Region Fanuel Kapapero feels it is not enough to just teach, but there must be quality teaching taking place in schools especially in rural areas.
Kapapero made the observation in light of poor performance that come mostly from some rural schools in the region were some learners are unable to read and write.
He made the remarks recently during a donation by First National Bank (FNB) Namibia through its FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust to a community hostel at Cocoma Junior Primary School at Kakekete village hinterland Ndiyona Constituency, Kavango East.
The donation was given in a form of mattresses, blankets and pots worth N$100 000.
“Learners can pass Grade 3 and get to Grade 4, move out of junior primary but they go and fail while some drop out of schools and that we don’t want to see. I want to see some of these learners finishing school even if I won’t be the director of education that time, I want to see these learners going to universities and later graduate and start working in Namibia,” Kapapero said.
He noted with concern that many rural schools outside Rundu sometimes pretend that they are teaching while they are not really delivering quality teaching. This is despite the fact these teachers went to the same tertiary institutions that their peers deployed in Rundu had attended.
“I heard of a child who was educated out of town who is now in Grade 8 but she was unable to read and write, I said I don’t want to see that happening. In our classrooms, it shouldn’t just be singing happy songs, but focus on quality teaching, that must prevail in our classrooms. We need to teach our learners to pass and prosper, if as teachers we focus on quality teaching despite being in the hinterland, our learners will make it,” stressed the regional education director.
He discouraged early child marriages which normally happens when learners drop out of school. “Keep these learners in school, as a country, we need them to achieve greatness through quality education. It’s also important that the community supports education in ways that they can, especially community hostels that keep needy learners near their classrooms to avoid them walking long distances to schools,” he said.