Otjaandjamwenyo learners struggle against poverty

A majority of learners at the Otjaandjamwenyo Primary School in Ruacana constituency in the Omusati Region live in severe poverty, with many attending school barefoot and wearing threadbare and worn-out uniforms.

Community members say their constituency is among the poorest in the region and is regarded as a marginalised community, but they say it does not receive the necessary support.

The school is situated alongside the C46 road, about 70 km from Outapi.

Hundreds of the school's 541 learners are without the necessary national identity documents required to register for state social grants, and a majority - more than 300 - wear frayed and old uniforms and shoes, if they have shoes at all.

Squeezed by poverty

Principal Silas Shiningayame said most learners come from poor families, and walk long distances to reach school.

"The majority of the parents from this constituency are unemployed; they are only pastoralists; our learners are not coming from the working class, they are coming from a rural setting," he said.

When Namibian Sun visited the school, a student, who did not want to be identified, said he has worn the same school shoes for over three years.

"I am a size six; currently I am forcing myself into a size four; I do not have any other shoes," he said.

Now 16, he said he can't remember the last time he saw his father, and his mother is unemployed.

Tradition vs modernisation

"In February, during a parent meeting, we identified learners who do not have school shoes and uniforms; some parents still resorted to having their children wear traditional attire to school," Shiningayame said.

They resolved that parents who cannot afford the school uniform and parents who resist the school uniform should be approached differently.

"Is it a matter of affordability or is it culture? However, we were met with total resistance towards school uniforms," he said.

Shiningayame added that the current headman said that if he knew that they were against their cultural attire, he would not have allowed the government to build a school in the area.

"The issue of culture is a choice. The learners are coming from a rural setting, we need assistance," he said.

Dilapidated and small

"We have some dilapidated school structures, and we need the government to look into this," the principal added.

Moreover, he said teachers do not have a proper staff room and share ablution facilities with the learners.

"The classrooms are not enough for all the learners. We had to combine two grade five classes as one, and there are over 50 learners in this class."

In Namibia, the standard teacher-to-learner ratio is 1:35 for primary schools and 1:30 for secondary schools.

Efforts made to contact Omsuati education director Benny Eiseb proved futile as his phone number was unreachable.