SWAKOPMUND – In order to mitigate the ever-increasing need for school placements in the Erongo region, the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has contracted August 26 to construct additional classrooms and ablution blocks.
The facilities which are currently under construction include a new secondary school in Swakopmund which will consist of 16 classrooms and four ablution blocks, a new secondary school in Walvis Bay with 24 classrooms and four ablution blocks as well as renovations and additional classrooms at existing schools. This was revealed by Erongo governor Neville Andre during his state of the region address at Swakopmund on Monday, where he stressed that the increase is a result of urban migration to the coastal towns.
According to the governor, the directorate of education in the region has recorded an increase in the learner enrolment from 51 942 learners in 2022 to 53 538 in 2023, an increase of 1 596 learners.
“The national examination results for 2022 reflected a downward trend in the performance of the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary and Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary levels and although the Erongo region was ranked fourth and sixth respectively in these examinations, it is not enough.
“As a region that used to be the best performing in the country in academics, we are not satisfied with these results and we are working on improving our academic performance across all grades,” he stressed.
The directorate earlier this year, he said, conducted a stakeholders’ meeting and developed Regional Improvement Strategies Plan, which will be reviewed end of July 2023 in order to ensure improved academic performance going forward.
The governor also highlighted the need for stakeholders to meet the government halfway by addressing these challenges.
“While attending to all the aforesaid infrastructural needs, the region is challenged with dilapidated educational buildings such as hostels, schools and heritage buildings, due to the coastal weather conditions and lack of funds for maintenance,” he said, while calling on stakeholders to come on board to address these challenges collectively for the benefit of the Namibian child. -Nampa