Renovations to the Augustineum Secondary School hostel and other buildings that have been coming along for almost five years have been completed.
The Augustineum Training College, as it was known in the past, was established in 1866 – and it is one of the oldest schools in Namibia.
It is now situated in the Khomasdal residential area after moving from Otjimbingwe to Okahandja, then to the capital.
Lack of building maintenance was the main reason for the dilapidated state of the school for many years.
In 2016, the government, through the education ministry, availed N$11 million to commence the reconstruction of the school hall and teaching blocks.
“The school structure was dilapidated to a state where it was no longer conducive to our learners. When I started working here in 2015, the school looked like it was in a war zone, and we started seeking funds and approached our ministry,” said principal Rudolph Matengu.
He said the funds were, however, not enough to reconstruct the entire school and the hostel – and in 2018, the school was given a shot in the arm with more than N$28 million.
These funds were part of the N$1 billion provided to the Namibian government by the African Development Bank to finance the Education and Training Quality Improvement Project to raise the quality of educational provision and eliminate inequalities in the country.
The renovations included work on the water reticulation, installation of a new drainage system, electrical reticulation, tilling, girls and boys’ hostel and dining hall revamping as well as kitchen machinery.
Although the renovations are complete, Matengu said the hostels will be officially inaugurated only sometime next year.
“Our learners cannot wait to see their new home. Although we have managed to accommodate some learners at nearby hostels, many faced challenges such as lack of accommodation during the closure of the hostel, which led them to erect shacks in the informal settlements,” he
said.