Scramble for school places

WITH the school year starting tomorrow, hundreds of Namibian children countrywide will not get placements. Dozens of Windhoek residents were turned away at schools in and around the capital yesterday as the eleventh-hour rush for places intensified.

In the North, more than 1 436 pupils in the Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions will not get admission to schools. The Director of Education in Ohangwena, Josia Udjombala, told The Namibian that they can only admit 1 200 of the 1 825 pupils who passed Grade 10 in the region last year, Namcol students included.SITUATION UNCLEAR The Education Director in Oshikoto, Anna Hipondoka, says schools in that region can only admit 1 053 of the 1 864 learners who have applied for admission.The Oshana and Omusati Directors of Education, Dute Shinyemba and Eline Nghiitwikwa, told The Namibian that they had not finished updating their reports, but should know what the situation is by today.Udjombala and Hipondoka said they would have to approach other regions, especially Omusati, to take some of their pupils, because it seems that Omusati schools still have places available.PERENNIAL PROBLEM In Windhoek, many parents, holding pupils by the hand, left especially primary schools in Katutura with their heads down yesterday as they were turned away by already overcrowded schools.Those The Namibian spoke to claimed that they moved to the capital over the holiday season to look for work and thus had no control over the situation.The Khomas Education Directorate does not expect chaos to reign with the perennial problem of classroom shortages when schools reopen tomorrow.Its Director, Claudia Tjikuua, said they called on parents to register their children with schools in October last year and have only a few Grade One and Grade Eight pupils on the waiting list.”We think there might be no problems this year.The placement committee is attending to the cases of those who were unable to get schools last year and we might start afternoon classes at some schools,” she told The Namibian.She blamed the last-minute rush on the influx of people into the city due to economic reasons.CRITICAL CASES “At the moment we are not foreseeing a problem but we know parents will turn up in hundreds by Wednesday,” she said.Today the Khomas Regional Directorate will only deal with a few critical cases where parents had to move to the city due to work or other circumstances.Yesterday, some schools like Jan Jonker Secondary School and Augustineum Secondary School turned dozens of pupils away.Many graduated from the Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol) as part-time Grade 10 pupils and want to go to school full-time.Others were over-aged Grade 10 repeaters.Only those under the age of 17 would be allowed back into full-time school for Grade 10.Ohangwena Director of Education Udjombala said: “All those learners who do not get a place in the four northern regions will have to wait while we are looking for places for them in other regions – central, south, east or west”.According to Udjombala, a new Central Admissions Committee will meet in Windhoek on January 24 to discuss the admission problem.He said the deputy education directors from all 13 regions would attend the meeting.Udjombala called upon pupils and parents to be patient while education officers look for places for the children.NO TEACHERS, CLASSROOMS Both Udjombala and Hipondoka said their biggest problems are shortages of teachers, classrooms and teaching materials such as textbooks.”In Oshikoto Region, we have only 56 junior secondary and seven senior secondary schools.We need more junior secondary schools and at least eight or nine senior secondary schools, more teachers and school materials,” Hipondoka told The Namibian.She said the construction of a new senior secondary school at Omuntele in Oshikoto had not yet started, and she did not know when it would get off the ground.”We really need schools in our region.Even if we just get additional classrooms at existing schools, it would be fine for the time being,” she said.Hipondoka thanked the school inspectors, teachers, parents and pupils in her region for the high pass rate achieved last year.She said the Oshikoto Region achieved an overall pass rate of 59,47 per cent, which is higher than in the other regions.”This is really a very good improvement and I am calling upon my education officers, parents and learners to keep it up,” Hipondoka said.Udjombala said the pass rate in Ohangwena had also improved – from 41,1% in 2004 to 42,4% last year.The Director of Education in Ohangwena, Josia Udjombala, told The Namibian that they can only admit 1 200 of the 1 825 pupils who passed Grade 10 in the region last year, Namcol students included. SITUATION UNCLEAR The Education Director in Oshikoto, Anna Hipondoka, says schools in that region can only admit 1 053 of the 1 864 learners who have applied for admission.The Oshana and Omusati Directors of Education, Dute Shinyemba and Eline Nghiitwikwa, told The Namibian that they had not finished updating their reports, but should know what the situation is by today.Udjombala and Hipondoka said they would have to approach other regions, especially Omusati, to take some of their pupils, because it seems that Omusati schools still have places available.PERENNIAL PROBLEM In Windhoek, many parents, holding pupils by the hand, left especially primary schools in Katutura with their heads down yesterday as they were turned away by already overcrowded schools.Those The Namibian spoke to claimed that they moved to the capital over the holiday season to look for work and thus had no control over the situation.The Khomas Education Directorate does not expect chaos to reign with the perennial problem of classroom shortages when schools reopen tomorrow.Its Director, Claudia Tjikuua, said they called on parents to register their children with schools in October last year and have only a few Grade One and Grade Eight pupils on the waiting list.”We think there might be no problems this year.The placement committee is attending to the cases of those who were unable to get schools last year and we might start afternoon classes at some schools,” she told The Namibian.She blamed the last-minute rush on the influx of people into the city due to economic reasons.CRITICAL CASES “At the moment we are not foreseeing a problem but we know parents will turn up in hundreds by Wednesday,” she said.Today the Khomas Regional Directorate will only deal with a few critical cases where parents had to move to the city due to work or other circumstances.Yesterday, some schools like Jan Jonker Secondary School and Augustineum Secondary School turned dozens of pupils away.Many graduated from the Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol) as part-time Grade 10 pupils and want to go to school full-time.Others were over-aged Grade 10 repeaters.Only those under the age of 17 would be allowed back into full-time school for Grade 10.Ohangwena Director of Education Udjombala said: “All those learners who do not get a place in the four northern regions will have to wait while we are looking for places for them in other regions – central, south, east or west”.According to Udjombala, a new Central Admissions Committee will meet in Windhoek on January 24 to discuss the admission problem.He said the deputy education directors from all 13 regions would attend the meeting.Udjombala called upon pupils and parents to be patient while education officers look for places for the children.NO TEACHERS, CLASSROOMS Both Udjombala and Hipondoka said their biggest problems are shortages of teachers, classrooms and teaching materials such as textbooks.”In Oshikoto Region, we have only 56 junior secondary and seven senior secondary schools.We need more junior secondary schools and at least eight or nine senior secondary schools, more teachers and school materials,” Hipondoka told The Namibian.She said the construction of a new senior secondary school at Omuntele in Oshikoto had not yet started, and she did not know when it would get off the ground.”We really need schools in our region.Even if we just get additional classrooms at existing schools, it would be fine for the time being,” she said.Hipondoka thanked the school inspectors, teachers, parents and pupils in her region for the high pass rate achieved last year.She said the Oshikoto Region achieved an overall pass rate of 59,47 per cent, which is higher than in the other regions.”This is really a very good improvement and I am calling upon my education officers, parents and learners to keep it up,” Hipondoka said.Udjombala said the pass rate in Ohangwena had also improved – from 41,1% in 2004 to 42,4% last year.