By: Anton Mbinge
Sitenda Junior Primary School, situated 36 kilometers from Rundu in the Kavango West region, is in a dilapidated state, which poses a serious risk to both learners and teachers and affects the delivery of education. The school, which is 22 year-old, only has two classrooms for grades 1 and 2. One of which is constructed out of mud and sticks. The classrooms have no floor.
At the recent education conference held in Windhoek, it was emphasised that the transformation of the education system is to focus on the inclusion of learners from the disadvantaged, marginalised and learners with special needs.The primary school has a total of 78 learners from vulnerable backgrounds.
The school principal, Theresia Kantema indicated that the condition of the school is not conducive, making it a great challenge for teaching. "Where will you place your teaching materials, because wherever you wish to place them, they will be blown away by wind or they will be dusty. As a teacher you will leave the classroom dirty and end up being sick, so how will the teaching process go forward in a positive manner," remarked Kantema.
Chairperson of the Student Union of Namibia (SUN) in the Kavango East Region Mukoya Vernet called on the regional education director and the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture at large to consider improving schools in remote areas. “When we say that we must bring the government to the people, we are not referring to this, because this is not bringing the government to the people. We are really in need of a proper education system. If children are walking for miles to be educated and find this type of infrastructure, then there is nothing that we are really doing as a country in improving the situation," said Mukoya.
The school does not have an administration block, permanent structure, computer for administration and lacks proper ablution facilities.
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