Another school falling apart at Omuthiya

SOME classrooms’ ceilings at Oshifukwa Combined School in the Oshikoto region look like they are about to collapse.

The 600 pupils at the school are further taught amid broken windows, cupboards, doors, chairs and desks. The school, which is situated in the Omuthiya district, goes up to Grade 9.

School principal John Mulundu says the two-block building needs an urgent revamp.

He says the school has 17 permanent and two corrugated iron classrooms.

“One of the blocks has an old roof that could affect the safety of both teachers and pupils if there is a strong wind. Although the building is a bit old, it was declared safe by the team of inspectors who did a school inspection in January 2021,” he says.

Mulundu says the school is, however, still confident to deliver and is determined to perform regardless of the condition its building is in.

“We performed above 97,2 % and came out among the top 20 out of 225 schools in the region,” he says.

He says the classrooms would be better without ceilings as bats are sheltering under the roof, and are leaving behind droppings, causing a bad smell.

Oshikoto education director Aletta Eises says infrastructure challenges in the region are real and complex.

“Our infrastructure development and construction of classrooms, ablution facilities, libraries, laboratories, et cetera, depends on the development budget we receive annually.

“If the budget was sufficient, we would be able to construct conventional infrastructure at all our schools,” she says.
Eises says the directorate is always reaching out to communities and businesses.

Through friends in education and development partners like the Japanese and Chinese embassies, many classrooms have been built in the region, she says.

The Namibian has observed 10 pit latrines at the school for pupils, and nine flushing toilets for teachers, of which three are not functional.