WINDHOEK Gymnasium Private School has been sold to South African independent schools group, Curro Holdings, for N$180 million.
The group plans to expand the school’s capacity from the current 1 509 pupils to 2 600 with additional erven and facilities. They also hope to build a separate primary school nearby.
Announcing the purchase of the school from the Windhoek Gymnasium Trust, Curro chief executive officer Chris van der Merwe said that the ethos, values and norms of Windhoek Gymnasium aligned well with that of the company.
He also said that they saw the need for the services provided by the school to be made available in other parts of Namibia and cited this as one of the reasons why they bought the school.
“[We] will pursue this avenue whenever suitable opportunities arise,” he said.
The principal Colette Riekert said selling the school would open up a vast amount of opportunities for Windhoek Gymnasium and its pupils, including the extension of the facilities available. She noted that acquiring funding is not always easy.
“We can build more classrooms and improve the standard of teaching at the school. Curro will play a big role in this as they have centres with subject specialists that can help us.”
She also added that in this way, Windhoek Gymnasium will be able to keep up with international education trends as well as ensuring continuity of the school.
Staff at the school will now form part of a large group, opening up more opportunities for them for promotion. There will also be curriculum innovation through the sharing of information between the group’s heads of department and on best curriculum practices.
Pupils will also be exposed to tougher sports competitions with schools in South Africa and their trips will be more easily funded.
Windhoek Gymnasium was founded in 2007 by Riekert, her husband and other members of the Windhoek Gymnasium Trust, which she describes as a charitable trust.
The school has 14 secondary school classrooms, two laboratories; three computer labs, 33 primary school classrooms; two design and technology rooms, 15 secondary school classrooms; book stores, main reception and administration offices; school hall hosting 1 000 chairs, one rugby field, four netball courts, cricket nets and one hockey field, among others.
Proceeds from the sale of the school will enable the trust to plough money back into education within the country, with Riekert saying their aim will be to provide funding for schools in need as well as bursaries and study loans for needy pupils and students.
“The aim is to improve and maintain the standard of education in Namibia,” she said. “The children are the ultimate beneficiaries.”
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