Rauna Kalola
The Rossing Foundation and ENAEX Africa donated N$250 000 worth of textbooks to selected schools in the Erongo region last week. The donation is set to enhance learning and teaching.
The donation comprised 1 476 textbooks in various subjects such as English, Physical Science, Mathematics and Life Science, as well as 1 600 library books. Five secondary schools have been identified to benefit from the textbooks, whilst 12 schools will benefit from the library books.
Rossing Foundation executive director Uparura Kuvare said the foundation has a renewed focus for 2023-2027, which specifically targets leveraging partnerships to support government’s developmental aspirations.
“We have thus aligned the foundation’s strategic objectives to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the second Harambee Prosperity Plan, for us to be relevant and contribute directly to the upliftment of communities where we serve,” he noted.
ENAEX Africa’s corporate social responsibility manager Nondumiso Radebe emphasised that one of the company’s objectives is to humanise mining. “Our agenda is about improving lives of the people in the communities we are working,” she stated.
Radebe added that the approach further seeks to invest in early childhood education initiatives to gain entry into sustainable communities by ensuring that the foundation is built from the grassroots.
ENAEX Africa is a fairly new company, as it recently gained entry through the acquisition of SASOL’s explosives division.
Receiving the donations, Erongo regional governor Neville Andre applauded the initiative, stating that it will go a long way in assisting government to provide quality education to the Namibian child, especially at a time of economic headwinds.
“The donations make a significant contribution in extending government’s hands in reaching and benefiting every child in the classrooms,” he said.
Stakeholders at the handover ceremony emphasised that the provision of textbooks, with the vision of having one textbook for each learner, cannot be realised by the ministry of education alone. Hence, more partnerships are crucial.
The current textbook rate in the Erongo region is said to be at one textbook per seven learners in the junior primary phase, and one textbook per six learners in the junior secondary phase.