Nuusita Ashipala
Ongwediva
The Oshana Region is grappling with the lack of classrooms with its rapid population growth exacerbating the situation.
In addition to the shortage of classrooms there is also a shortage of libraries and computers at its schools.
The education director of Oshana Region Hileni Amukana said the existing classrooms are dilapidated and are in a dire need of renovation.
Amukana was speaking at an interaction with inspectors of education, principals, educational staff and stakeholders.
The interaction was addressed by the Deputy Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Anna Nghipondoka.
The pressure of the lack of classrooms could be eased with the completion of the Ongwediva Junior Secondary School, which has been on hold for the past four years.
He said the defects at the school are currently being worked on.
Amukana said while regions are required to identify schools that need to be maintained, the schools in Oshana first need to be renovated before they can be maintained.
Equally, the region is also highly in dire need of hostels and hostel space as eight of the 14 secondary schools are without hostels. Whilst listing the challenges, the director said the lack of teacher houses is also haunting the region. Currently about seven teacher houses in the region have not yet been completed.
In addition, 15 conventional classrooms, which were initiated four years ago, have also not been completed.
“Capital projects are not well facilitated in the regions causing completion delays,” said the director.
Another concern haunting the region is the decrease of enrolment of learners from as early as pre-grade.
Amukana said there is a decline in the enrolment as learners progress to the next grades.
In addition, there has also been a decline of learner enrolment in Grade 4 following the introduction of the reformed curriculum.
The deputy minister was also concerned about the reduction of enrolment and asked the region to seek intervention to handle the problem.
Despite the challenges the region has adopted various mechanisms geared to improve results.
One such intervention is the performance dialogue, where the region involves non-performing schools to help them reach their targets.
Nghipondoka was impressed with the region’s initiatives to improve results.
Caption (Learners):
Education first… This illustrative photo of a group of learners at a school assembly.