Gibeon schools to close down

DIFFICULTIES in sustaining the African Methodist Episcopal Private School (AMEPS) at the southern village of Gibeon have forced the school management and parents to agree to a Government proposal that the school be closed.

The school was established in 1979 under the leadership of former Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi as a protest against Bantu education. The community is finding it difficult to pay the electricity bills and to maintain the school’s buildings, many of which have broken windows and doors.”They cannot cope to sustain themselves,” said Ben Boois, the Director of Education for the Hardap Region, who confirmed that the school management and parents had agreed that pupils would be transferred to other schools at the village.Government is already paying the teachers’ salaries and paying the school a subsidy to maintain its hostel.Boois said it did not make sense to have five schools in a village with a population of 6 000, and only 1 442 schoolchildren.The five schools at Gibeon are the AMEPS Senior Secondary School (Grades 8 to 11) and its primary school (Grades 1 to 7), the WM Jod Primary School (Grades 1 to 4), the Spellmeyer Primary School (Grades 5 to 7) and the Cornelius //Oaseb Senior Secondary School (Grades 8 to 2).Boois said because the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP) of the Ministry of Education called for quality education, it would make sense to reduce the number of schools at Gibeon to only one primary school and one secondary school, as this would allow authorities to manage them better.He said it had been agreed that the AMEPS and Spellmeyer schools should be incorporated into other State schools at Gibeon.Senior AMEPS pupils – Grades 8 to 11 – will be transferred to //Oaseb and Grades 1 to 4 to WM Job.The Grade 5 to 7 pupils from AMEPS and Spellmeyer will be taught temporarily in the former AMEPS school buildings, in what will be called Gibeon Primary School.The changes will take effect when schools reopen next year.Boois said some people were not happy with the decision, because they were proud of the two schools that will be closed.Plans are to convert the classrooms at AMEPS into a community centre and the hostel into a community guesthouse.The buildings of the Spellmeyer Primary School will be turned into a youth development centre.The community is finding it difficult to pay the electricity bills and to maintain the school’s buildings, many of which have broken windows and doors.”They cannot cope to sustain themselves,” said Ben Boois, the Director of Education for the Hardap Region, who confirmed that the school management and parents had agreed that pupils would be transferred to other schools at the village.Government is already paying the teachers’ salaries and paying the school a subsidy to maintain its hostel.Boois said it did not make sense to have five schools in a village with a population of 6 000, and only 1 442 schoolchildren.The five schools at Gibeon are the AMEPS Senior Secondary School (Grades 8 to 11) and its primary school (Grades 1 to 7), the WM Jod Primary School (Grades 1 to 4), the Spellmeyer Primary School (Grades 5 to 7) and the Cornelius //Oaseb Senior Secondary School (Grades 8 to 2).Boois said because the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP) of the Ministry of Education called for quality education, it would make sense to reduce the number of schools at Gibeon to only one primary school and one secondary school, as this would allow authorities to manage them better.He said it had been agreed that the AMEPS and Spellmeyer schools should be incorporated into other State schools at Gibeon.Senior AMEPS pupils – Grades 8 to 11 – will be transferred to //Oaseb and Grades 1 to 4 to WM Job.The Grade 5 to 7 pupils from AMEPS and Spellmeyer will be taught temporarily in the former AMEPS school buildings, in what will be called Gibeon Primary School.The changes will take effect when schools reopen next year.Boois said some people were not happy with the decision, because they were proud of the two schools that will be closed.Plans are to convert the classrooms at AMEPS into a community centre and the hostel into a community guesthouse.The buildings of the Spellmeyer Primary School will be turned into a youth development centre.