Primary education foundation of learning – Unam vice chancellor

The primary education sector must be built on a strong foundation for it to become a good feeder for universities and other institutions of higher learning, says University of Namibia (Unam) vice chancellor Kenneth Matengu.

He was speaking at an event to officially hand over a block of four classrooms and a storeroom, built with Japanese funding of US$56 480 (about N$942 000) under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project, by Japanese ambassador to Namibia Shinichi Asazuma, at Impalila Combined School, in the Zambezi region, on Thursday last week.

“Without a strong primary school level foundation, universities, including Unam, will not get the best feeder streams for students because the vision would have been lost along the way,” Matengu said.

“I am here to support fellow educators on their journey to give Namibian children the best foundation in education,” he said.

At the event, ambassador Asazuma said under the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers programme, 193 volunteers have been dispatched to various regions of Namibia across multiple sectors since 2006.

“Those attached to the education sector go to various schools, mostly as mathematics teachers, as well as subject advisers at circuit offices, as trainers in vocational training centres and at multi-purpose youth centres,” he said.

Asazuma implored the pupils to take good care of the classrooms so that future generations can also enjoy learning in the proper educational environment created.

He expressed hope that some of the pupils from Impalila will get a chance to study in Japan and remember the day’s ceremony.

“For those interested in advancing your studies in Japan, please note that there are Japanese government scholarship programmes to support your dreams. I sincerely hope you will be a bridge between Japan and Namibia in the future,” ambassador Asazuma said.

According to Impalila Combined School principal Chris Sihope, the school in Kabbe South was established in 1966 to cater for children of Namibians who had been relocated to the island from the flood-prone area.

It has an enrolment of more than 400 children from grades 0 to 9 and a staff complement of 16 teachers.

Due to a shortage of classrooms, the school had been downgraded to teach only up to junior secondary level, and pupils from the island and other floodplains need to find a place at Katima Mulilo or other secondary schools to continue their education, said the principal at the event.

The closest senior secondary school is more than 60km away.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, former education minister Anna Nghipondoka said the long distances pupils in remote rural areas travel to access school have on numerous occasions led them to quit.

Impalila Island, located at the far eastern tip of Namibia’s Zambezi region, is a unique, secluded destination at the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi rivers. It is famously situated at the world’s only quadripoint, where Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe meet.

The island features lush floodplains, ancient baobab trees and is home to roughly 2 500 to 3 000 residents across 25 small villages.

– Email: matthew@namibian.com.na

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