Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Ministry of Education in the Oshana Region has closed five schools due to insufficient learner populations.
Oshana’s Acting Director, Hilma George-Nuunyango, said that Ongako Junior Primary School was the first to close in 2010, followed by Ekuwa Junior Primary School in 2016, Andambombali Junior Primary School in 2017, Uupeke in 2021, and Ondjongolume Junior Primary School in 2022.
“We closed all these schools because of low learner population, and the learners have been relocated to other nearby schools,” George-Nuunyango explained.
She mentioned that Ondjongolume and Ekuwa Junior Primary Schools are currently closed and not being utilized, while Ongako is being used by the Ministry of Health and Social Services as an Outreach Center.
Additionally, Andambombali and Uupeke are both being utilized as centres for the Ministry’s adult education program.
Sanet Steenkamp, the Executive Director of the Ministry of Education, said that over the past five years, they have been assessing uneconomical schools in rural areas where the number of learners does not justify the school’s operation. According to their criteria, a school must have at least 35 learners.
Steenkamp explained that if there are only 50 or 70 learners, they still need to appoint fully qualified teachers, which is not economically viable. Consequently, more space is opened up elsewhere in urban areas due to parents requesting schools in more urban areas.
“It’s a bit of a complex situation, and the reasons for school closures usually involve transferring teachers to another school while learners may be accommodated in a hostel, community hostel, or cared for by parents. However, a certain number of children in terms of access and quality, as well as teacher-learner post provision or teacher-learner ratio, are considered,” she said.
Steenkamp added that school closures due to low enrollment happen in all regions, with many schools having enrollments of less than 100 learners. The Ministry’s statistics show that there are over 350 schools with enrollments below 100, and they target these schools for consolidation or construction of new facilities with hostels for children from uneconomical areas.
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