Africa-Press – Namibia. THE education ministry’s deputy executive director, Edda Bohn, says they will wait for feedback from schools to see how dire the need for space is.
This was said as schools around the country are bustling with eager parents looking for space for their children, especially for grades 1 and 8. “We trust and hope all is well, but we know, of course, that there are those learners who still need space in schools,” she says.
In cases where there is no space at school, Bohn says the regional office captures the data and then looks at where there is space to place the children.
The Namibian visited a few schools in Windhoek, which were all full. The principal of Dawid Bezuidenhout High School, Wilbard Mbeeli, says they are currently not doing any placements for Grade 8.
“We received a directive that schools cannot place learners because there is a database at the regional office with quite a number of learners who have not been placed. Therefore, we need to provide support and cooperation to the regional office for the placement process to be smooth,” he says.
Jan Möhr Secondary School principal Lukas Hashiti says the school is currently busy with placements for grades 8 to 12, adding that while demand for placement at the school and in the hostel is high, space is limited.
“The schools are full to capacity, however, we still have parents that are looking for spaces in and out of the region, but we cannot help them,” he says.
Meanwhile, the head of the languages department at Orban Primary School, Theresa Damases, says the school is full to capacity. “Unfortunately, we are not in a position to accommodate everybody.”
She adds that the school completed their grade 0 and 1 placements last year. “We don’t have an issue with that. It was done last year, orientation took place last year so today we just started with normal school work,” she says.
The principal of Bethold Himumuine Primary School, Beauty Mukuahima, says although the school encouraged parents to apply for placement in advance, they are still dealing with parents looking for spaces.
The head of department at Namibia Primary School, Samuel Ijambo, also urges parents to start applying for spaces as early as the year before. “We must start looking for places as early as possible,” he says.
Meanwhile, parents, as well as many Grade 1 pupils, queued up at several schools at Walvis Bay yesterday to start the new academic year. By 09h00 yesterday, a few parents were still looking for placement for their children at the harbour town’s schools.
Most cannot afford the transport fees to schools in suburbs far from home. Many parents The Namibian spoke to yesterday say they were hard hit by Covid-19, and increasing taxi fares only add to their financial burdens.
“Some schools are really far away,” says Ndeshi Embashu, a school parent at !Nara Primary School.
“It is especially hard for single parents,” says Johanna Elu, a school parent at Tutaleni Primary School
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