ONGWEDIVA – The Mobile Telecommunications Company last week donated four classrooms and a storeroom to Onaushe Combined school in Uuvudhiya constituency, Oshana region, under its Rural Schools Project.
According to MTC executive Tim Ekandjo, the block is built at the cost of over N$800 000 and donated in partnership with the ministry of education.
Ekandjo added the classrooms will ensure learners at the school are taught in a conducive environment.
The MTC Rural Schools Project is a national corporate social investment initiative, launched in 2020 and driven to answer the call of dilapidated schools that lack decent structures or have none.
“For the year under review, Onaushe Combined School, alongside the Aussenkher Primary School in the //Kharas region, is this year’s selected beneficiaries of new blocks of classrooms, constructed at N$1.6 million, using local contractors, in an effort to support the local construction industry,” he stated.
He added the project has supported schools in Kunene, Kavango West, Otjozondjupa, Oshana and //Kharas regions at N$6.4 million, respectively.
Oshana education director Hileni Amukana said investing in children will secure a better future for any country.
“With such a concept in mind, we keep on supporting the construction of the classrooms, which is one of the most effective ways to improve the learning environment of the children,” she said.
Amukana further said many children are still forced to study under trees or in tents because of the lack of permanent classrooms.
She indicated Oshana region is facing challenges with classrooms, more than 145 urban schools in Oshana need extra classrooms.
Receiving the classroom blocks, Oshana governor Elia Irimari said, “it’s a well-known stance that education, in its superiority, is a catalyst that drives development.
Hence, the government of the Republic of Namibia shall never be nonchalant about investing in it.
Irimari added that the Oshana region, like many other regions, is facing the challenge of either dilapidated or inadequate classrooms.
“Getting taught in a conducive environment is one of the key contributors to learners performing well and achieving good grades. Generally, it is destructive and counter-productive for both learners and teachers when teaching and learning are done under a tree or building that is almost collapsing,” expressed Irimari.
He said, despite having such unfortunate predicaments experienced at some schools in the country, these teachers and learners are never discouraged to impart knowledge and pursue education, for they understand that education is the key to a better Namibia and ultimately a better future.
– vkaapanda@nepc.com.na