Africa-Press – Namibia. ACTING Walvis Bay circuit inspector Joseph Martin has urged parents who want to enrol their children for Grade 1 to be patient.
He says the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture will ensure every child is placed in a school for 2023.
Parents were camping outside some schools from 07h00 on Monday morning to be first in line for application forms yesterday morning.
Martin says although space at different schools are limited, arrangements would be made to eventually accommodate every child.
He says there was no need for parents to overnight at schools.
“I went around schools and saw people lining up from early in the morning the previous day. Please do not sleep ouside,” he says.
Martin says all primary schools are ready for the registration process.
“There are number of operation modes we are a testing to see which will come out better for the future.
“Some schools will provide a limited number of forms, and others will give forms to parents who request forms, and forms will also be sent to eligible parents. Some will give forms to every parent. We will see which mode works,” he says.
Application forms were only handed out yesterday.
Martin says the ministry has done its best to inform parents of the process through the media.
The ministry has also informed the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources to share information with factory workers and other stakeholders, he says.
“The ministry especially made sure that seagoing personnel do not miss the registration date,” Martin says.
Despite this, many parents slept outside school premises this week.
“We are here sleeping outside because of education. We do not know why the ministers are there. There is so much space to build schools, but we are suffering.
“Look at he way we are sleeping outside. We are the ones who elected them,” said Valedinus Gabriel, who was camping outside Immanuel Ruiters Primary School.
Another parent, Helena Josef, said: “We were at Tutaleni this morning. They gave people numbers early in the morning and the people went home. Walvis Bay is very windy and mostly cold.
“Why could other schools not do the same so that people do not sleep outside like this? There is always a problem of limited space, and we end up sending our children to other towns.”
Some parents were queuing for a second year, as their children could not be enrolled last year.
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