New classrooms for Keetmans schools

//Kharas governor Aletha Frederick has reiterated the government’s commitment to providing quality education. She says the newly implemented nationwide emergency construction of classrooms programme is a clear demonstration of this commitment.

The government introduced the programme this year after the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture highlighted inadequate education facilities as part of the root cause of poor academic performance. The ministry has budgeted N$255 million to construct 510 classrooms and 70 ablution blocks countrywide, and has appointed August 26 Construction for these purposes.

The governor said this during the recent inauguration of Keetmanshoop Primary School’s new block of three classrooms and a storage room, while one new block of two classrooms and a storage room were added to Keetmanshoop Secondary School.

This is a key milestone in the development of our educational infrastructure and reaffirms our government’s commitment to providing quality education for our children. “I think in the south we are more fortunate – we don’t really find pupils who are taught under trees as far as I know. It is now up to all of us to ensure that these classrooms are taken care of and used to their fullest potential,” said Frederick.

Education minister Anna Nghipondoka in August said the ministry is aware of the shortage of classrooms across the country and the negative impact it has on teaching and learning. The number of classrooms needed across the country at the end of 2022 stood at over 4 000, she said.

Regional performance improvement strategies also listed weak monitoring and evaluation of classrooms, schools, circuits, regional offices and head offices as factors leading to poor discipline among pupils and teachers, poor leadership and management at schools, and a culture of a lack of performance.

Others are inadequate teaching and learning aids and a lack of support for teachers.

“In an effort to arrest the poor performance of our results, the ministry has undertaken the following as immediate interventions necessary to avert the repeat of education outcomes similar to those recorded in the previous academic year,” Nghipondoka said at the time.

The appointment of August 26 Construction has been highly criticised by the Construction Industry Federation of Namibia, as the tender was not publicly advertised. The company’s capacity to execute its mandate was also questioned.

Martha Endjala, the managing director of August 26 Construction, says the company is setting new standards of efficiency in the construction industry. “Construction is nearly to completion. Some of these buildings are completed in a period of three months, and only a company with a healthy financial capability can achieve that.

“For the past five years we have successfully completed more than 30 projects valued over a billion dollar,” she said. In the ||Kharas region the need for 13 classrooms and two ablution blocks has been identified to be constructed at a cost of N$7 million, and 24 classrooms and two ablution blocks in the Hardap region worth N$10,3 million.

The company is also expected to build 46 classrooms and nine ablution blocks in the Ohangwena region at a cost of N$23,1 million.

In the Kavango East region, some 41 classrooms and six ablution blocks costing N$21,8 million are needed. In the Khomas region, the company is expected to build 84 classrooms and nine ablution blocks at a cost of N$40,8 million.

In the Erongo region, 51 classrooms and nine ablution facilities at a cost of N$ 33,7 million need to be built, in the Oshana region 58 classrooms and12 ablution facilities at a cost of N$29,6 million, and in the Oshikoto region 58 classrooms and three ablution blocks for N$23,6 million.