200 Oshikoto pupils taught in makeshift classrooms

Two hundred pupils at Otatashe Primary School in the Oshikoto region are allegedly being taught in makeshift classrooms constructed with sticks and corrugated sheets.

The school was established in 2011 but does not have a single permanent structure.

School principal Samuel Mushelenga wrote a letter asking individuals to sponser the construction of permanent classrooms. According to the letter, dated 13 January, the school’s first classrooms were grass and wood huts but pupils currently learn in wood structures with corrugated iron roofing. He said the structures leave pupils and teaching materials vulnerable to rain and extreme weather during winter.

“These conditions make it difficult to create a conducive learning environment for the children,” he wrote.

In his letter, the principal said the school needs “seven durable and weather resistant classrooms”.

According to a quotation sourced from a local building supplier, these permanent structures would cost N$260 000.

Mushelenga declined to comment when contacted last week, asking who shared the letter with the media.

In 2023, a teacher at the school told The Namibian a herd of cattle entered her classroom and ate her class assessment record book, pupils’ books and textbooks.

Oshikoto education director Aletta Eises says multiple schools in the region face infrastructural challenges. “We have ablution, electricity, water, network and road infrastructure challenges,” she says, adding that the region has 229 schools.

Oshikoto governor Penda ya Ndakolo was unreachable for comment.

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