ONGWEDIVA – Visually impaired learners at the Gabriel Taapopi Senior Secondary School in Ongwediva are now without school materials after an office block that housed their education supplies caught fire in a suspected arson incident on Sunday.

Students with visual impairments will typically need adapted materials to fully access the school curriculum. Adaptations include modifications made to text, materials, instruction and resources to make them accessible to students with disabilities.

Oshana police spokesperson Thomas Aiyambo said it is suspected that two unknown suspects broke the office door with an unidentified object, gained entry and set the office on fire.

He said the fire caused damage to the wall and wooden roof. 

However, the iron (zinc) roof was not affected. He said two offices with wooden roofs were harmed only by the heat but not completely burned.

The two suspects allegedly jumped over the school fence after the incident and their footprints were traced walking towards the west direction until the main road where they could not be seen further.

The fire was extinguished by the firefighters. 

The total value of the damage cannot be established, as school management is still busy identifying the appropriate figures, according to Aiyambo.

Police investigations are ongoing. 

School principal Eelu Sackaria said, “The office that is burned had all the materials used for visually impaired pupils. The other four buildings were broken into, and we are still not sure what was stolen”. He further said most educational documents and other items that were in one office got burned to ashes, but the examination papers were not affected, since the marks were being recorded elsewhere.

Sackaria explained that at the time the incident happened, some learners were attending evening lessons.

He said the security guard who was on duty thought that some noise he heard was coming from the class.

- vkaapanda@nepc.com.na