By Frederick Philander GIBEON Parent apathy toward education is one of the biggest problems the Dr Willem M Jod Primary School at Gibeon is facing since its inception in 1981 as a product of the then second tier government in the country. This is the view of the school’s second and longest serving principal, Willem Hartzenberg, in a New Era interview during a recent visit to the South. “The school was built in 1979 and officially taken into use in 1981. Two years later I was appointed principal of the school and have been since. We have recently inaugurated a school hall, too,” said Hartzenberg. According to him the hall for the school is so far the biggest single achievement. “We really worked very hard to raise N$300 000 among parents, the local churches, the German embassy in Windhoek and the Food-for-work programme of the Hardap Regional Office to build the hall. Today it serves multiple purposes for the school and the community,” said. The primary school presently has a learner roll of 498 and a staff of 15, primarily female teachers, and the motto is ‘Aim high and stand firm’. “The town’s parents are very reluctant to really get involved in education matters, making development virtually impossible at the school. Some don’t even bother to pay their children’s yearly school funds. We have to augment the income by staging school activities such as culture days. My wish for the future of this school is that parents get involved in a more proactive manner. This will help the staff to achieve maximum success in quality education delivery,” Hartzenberg said. The school earlier this year undertook an educational tour to the capital, part of broadening the learners’ education horizon.