Africa-Press – Namibia. KAVANGO East education director Fanuel Kapapero has told parents and pupils who still need to secure places at schools to be patient, while the ministry makes arrangements for tents.
About 1 090 pupils due to start grades 8, 9, and 10 are in need of school spaces at Rundu.
During a meeting with parents and the pupils at the Rundu Senior Secondary School sport field yesterday morning, Kapapero said they should return home while the directorate sorts out the issue.
He said the tents will be erected at identified schools while the ministry constructs a project school to accommodate the pupils.
The affected pupils are from Ndama Combined School, Rundu Senior Primary School, Ruben Makaranga Combined School, Alpo Mauno Mbamba Junior Secondary School and Andreas Kandjimi Primary School.
Kapapero said the lack of classrooms started during the pandemic, when the directorate struggled to put pupils in the available classes due to insufficient classrooms.
Kapapero said pupils outnumber the available spaces at schools, classrooms and teachers.
“What we have in the pipeline right now, is that we have a project school that will accommodate those pupils, especially grades 8, 9, and 10.
“But it will take some time before the school is built, but in the meantime, we want to put up tents. We will put tents at those schools where the pupils are coming from, with chairs and teachers,” Kapapero said.
He assured parents that pupils would not sit at home for longer than a week.
“We really don’t want them to miss out with teaching and learning,” he said.
Earlier on, Kapapero said the lack of school places at Rundu is due to an influx of people coming from the villages to look for schools, leaving schools in the rural areas underutilised.
Meanwhile, one of the affected parents, Ludmiltha Ndumba, whose son was attending school at Rundu Senior Primary School and who was supposed to go to Grade 8, said she was disappointed that parents were not told in advance that the pupils would not be placed.
“Some of us are now forced to take our children to private schools where we are going to pay high amounts because we are not happy with the decision of putting the pupils in tents.
“We are not happy with it. Who is going to teach them in the tents and for how long?”
Schoolboard member at Kehemu Combined School Manfred Poroto, who also attended the meeting, said the situation has affected both parents and pupils.
“This problem is affecting all of us, but the best thing is to put heads together to find a solution,” said Poroto.
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