Learners face uphill education battle in Oshikoto

A school located in Engoyi village in the Oshikoto Region is facing serious structural issues, with classrooms and toilets displaying significant cracks on the walls.

Teachers and learners said they fear the walls will collapse, potentially risking their safety.

During a recent visit to Engoyi Combined School, Namibian Sun observed the dilapidated state of the school.

Additionally, the pit latrines, in use for decades, emitted a significant stench.

The school was established in 1979.

According to school principal Mirjam Ndaoya the school offers grades zero to nine and has enrolled 514 learners for the academic year.

Safety a serious worry

Ndaoya stressed the run-down state of the classrooms, which are on the verge of collapse, and said the infrastructure is old.

“You can see for yourself that those cracks on the wall are big, and they are all over,” she said while showing this reporter around the crumbling structures.

A teacher from the school argued that, based on the state of the infrastructure, one could refuse to teach in an environment that is not safe, but there is not much they can do about it.

‘Unbearable’ conditions

Another challenge the school faces is overcrowded classrooms.

Ndaoya revealed that a grade six class has about 54 learners, which exceeds the government's recommended ratio of one teacher to 35 learners.

She explained that overcrowded classrooms do not allow for the effective implementation of the learner-centred teaching approach.

This has also led to some teachers being unable to assign homework to learners. Due to multi-grade teaching, they have to mark hundreds of submissions within a short period, all while recapping the previous day's work. Teachers find this situation unbearable.

“Teachers want to give homework, but they cannot do that because they will have a lot of books to mark, and even if they do, sometimes there is no time to mark, and when a learner realises that teachers don’t mark their books, it demoralises them from doing it the next time,” the principal explained.

At the moment, the school also requires a new structure for a Grade 2 class.

Although a teacher has been appointed for the class, the current facilities cannot accommodate them. Consequently, the school is planning to raise funds to construct a corrugated iron structure to address this issue.

Additionally, during the visit, this reporter noticed some learners without a complete school uniform, with most of them in need of school shoes.

Smelly toilets

One teacher informed Namibian Sun that due to the poor state of the school's toilets, both teachers and learners are discouraged from consuming liquids to avoid using the facilities.

“Even if you want to use the toilet and we direct you to them, you might want to drive home and go use a toilet there,” a teacher remarked.

The school has only had pit latrine toilets since its establishment in 1979, and the smell emanating from them is noticeable from a distance.

Lack of furniture

Ndaoya also said the school is in dire need of school furniture.

With broken chairs and tables on the school premises, Ndaoya said the school welcomes anyone who can assist in fixing them.

The school also needs a printer and teaching materials.

Ndaoya explained that, currently, only teachers have textbooks; therefore, they are required to write summaries on the chalkboard or make copies, a situation that could have been different if learners also had access to the material.

She emphasised that, despite the challenges faced, the 23 teachers and supporting staff are nevertheless doing their best to provide quality education to the learners.

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