OPUWO – The school feeding programme and the provision of free primary education have resulted in more children attending school, while absenteeism figures have also decreased in the Kunene Region.
Acco r d ing to a teacher at Opuwo Primary School Wilhelmina Nuuyoma, because of free primary education parents are now more willing to send their children to school, while more children are showing up for classes every day, knowing that there is a meal waiting for them. During the previous term, Opuwo Primary School, a government school in the centre of the town of Opuwo started off with 550 children, however, since government made attendance of primary education free, the number has increased to 851 children.
Nuuyoma said although the school never turned away children for failing to pay school development fund fees, many parents opted not to send their children to school, fearing that school authorities would demand such monies. However, since compulsory education became free, more parents are sending their children to school. A manual compiled by Unicef on Strategic Information and Regional Data Profiles, indicates that at least 40 percent of children aged 15 and older have never been to school in the region, which is very high compared to the national average of 15 percent.
The school dropout rate of 3 percent in the Kunene Region is also the second highest in the country. The reasons cited for the dismal situation in the region include long distances to schools, illness and parental influences. Although Opuwo Primary School is in the centre of town, some learners at the school are from needy and vulnerable households and often attend school on empty stomachs. Many learners, including children in Grade 1, walk between four and seven kilometres to school from the villages surrounding Opuwo. People in those villages, mainly from the Ovahimba, Ovatue, Ovazemba and Ovangambue communities rely heavily on livestock for their livelihoods.
Life has however taken a dramatic turn for them because of the prevailing drought. Their animals are dying and those surviving are too weak to produce milk or to be slaughtered for meat, which are traditional staples. This has in turn taken a toll on the children as most parents struggle to provide for their families. Nuuyoma however maintains that the government’s school feeding programme hasnot only discouraged absenteeism at schools, but it is also helping children from most vulnerable families to survive. “Quite a number of these children leave home without food and when they return home after school there is no lunch and sometimes there is no lunch and dinner.
There is just nothing for them to eat at home,” explained Nuuyoma. The meals provided under the school feeding programme consist of soft porridge that already contains sugar, salt and powdered milk. Unlike many other schools in the region, Opuwo Primary School tries to supplement that diet by growing vegetables, which are harvested a couple of times in the year, and buys soup to accompany the porridge.
The school intends to extend the garden to produce enough vegetables to feed the children on a more regular basis, but funds to buy seeds, fertiliser and to extend its irrigation system are not there. “Our children work in the garden after school and if we can get donations to improve our garden, our children are going to be better fed,” said Nuuyoma.