By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK “Eldorado Project School was established in February this year for learners who could not secure placement in existing schools for Grade 11 in the capital,” said the principal, Alletta Eises, in a New Era interview this week. According to her the school will be a fully fledged secondary school in 2010 with the gradual phasing in of other grades. “We started in February as an afternoon school. Presently we are teaching in the morning at the school, an initial problem with the afternoon classes when we feared for the safety of our learners during winter. A number of robberies took place at the school during that time, but that did not deter our learners from walking long distances to attend classes,” Aletta said. The lack of a sport field prevented the learners this year from actively taking part in school sport. “At a cultural level we were able to establish a number of clubs at the school such as a marching group, a girl-child club, a school choir and a cultural group, trying to instill a sense of cultural belonging among learners. This was a very challenging year for both learners and teachers. Throughout the year we have identified some academic weaknesses, which we hope to rectify in the new year,” said Eiseb, who expressed her gratitude to the Ministry of Education for having started the school. Eldorado Project School has about 150 learners and six teachers. Deserved Holiday This is the last edition of the bi-weekly education segment of New Era for 2006. It will resume publication when the schools reopen on January 17 next year. We wish all learners, students, teachers, tertiary education and ministerial staff and officials a well deserved summer holiday, a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Take care. Editor