N$70m Kunene schools come with demand for better results

Government has pumped more than N$70 million into new and upgraded schools in Kunene, but education minister Sanet Steenkamp says the investment must now translate into stronger academic results.

Steenkamp said this at the inauguration of Outjo Project Primary School, Outjo Project Secondary School and Okapundja Primary School on Friday, where she said taxpayers deserved a return on the money invested in education infrastructure.

“We identify a need, a priority, we plan a process, we invest public resources and we deliver the infrastructure,” she said, adding that now “we must get a return on investment”.

The three schools, together with additional classrooms, ablution facilities and other infrastructure at nine other schools, cost N$70,061,531.64, the minister said.

The investment comes after years of pressure on school infrastructure in parts of the region.

Kunene education director Sophia Ferdrieck said more than 350 Grade 8 learners were unable to secure admission in Outjo last year, while children in Okapundja had been accommodated at an early childhood development centre because the area did not have a primary school.

The new Outjo Project Secondary School has 20 classrooms, a computer laboratory, science laboratory, library, administrative block and ablution facilities.

Okapundja Primary School has four classroom blocks, ablution facilities, a water tank and fencing, while phase two of Outjo Project Primary School is expected to provide additional pre-primary classrooms and ablution facilities.

Decongestion plan

Steenkamp said overcrowding remains one of the ministry’s major education infrastructure problems, as packed classrooms weaken interaction between teachers and learners, place pressure on sanitation facilities and limit learning opportunities.

She said the ministry's decongestion programme targets schools with 2 000 or more learners before expanding to other schools.

Between April and June this year, the ministry completed 92 new primary classrooms across 11 regions, while 46 of 70 planned pre-primary construction sites had been completed by the end of June.

Kunene was among seven of the country’s 14 regions where all planned pre-primary construction sites had been completed, Steenkamp said.

The ministry is also constructing 24 schools nationwide under two rounds of its decongestion programme.

Three Ps

But Steenkamp cautioned that building infrastructure was only part of the solution.

She called on teachers to be physically and mentally present, psychologically well and prepared for lessons, describing these as the “three Ps” needed for successful teaching.

She also urged parents to support teachers rather than threaten or bully them when disciplinary issues arise at schools.

“We want to see results. We want to see improvement in quality symbols from A to Z,” she said.

Steenkamp also warned that the ministry has too many abandoned education projects in some regions, including projects that have ended up in court.

“We do not want to see this happening in Kunene,” she said, calling on officials to keep contractors accountable and ensure projects are completed within the agreed cycles.

Ferdrieck similarly urged schools and communities to protect and maintain the new facilities, saying the infrastructure should be treated as community assets.

“The true value of our infrastructure ... lies in how we safeguard and use them,” she said.

With Kunene now having 88 schools serving more than 57 000 learners, the new infrastructure adds capacity to a region still facing pressure on classrooms and other education facilities.

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