Josephina Mwashindange

OMUTHIYA – Oshikoto education director Aletta Eises has urged learners in the region to develop a good reading culture to improve their grammar. 

“Oshikoto region is performing well – but when it comes to the English language, it is holding our learners back,” said Eises, who was addressing learners at Oshapapa Combined School last Friday on the occasion of the International Education Day. 
“Let them start with the reading culture at the grassroots level so that they can develop and improve their language proficiency. Everyone should play a role and push our learners to greater heights.” 

With the changes brought about by the revised curriculum, many learners who performed well are not allowed to proceed to grade 12 as a result of low symbols in English. 

Eises further emphasised that investing in information and communication technology is critical in the 21st century because most countries are moving towards the fourth industrial revolution, which is characterised by the growing utilisation of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, the internet and advance wireless technologies. “Education is a basic need and a human right. Therefore, educators should be equipped with resilience to recover and revitalise. We are not only bouncing back, we are bouncing forward, equipped with resilience,” reiterated Eises. 

The International Education Day is a yearly event, and this year’s theme was ‘recover and revitalise education for the Covid-19 generation.’ 
Oshapapa Combined School has about 300 learners and 16 teachers. 
It started as a primary school and later extended the curriculum to grade 10, which is now grade 9. 
The school is also known for its performance and has a 94% pass rate.