Walvis Bay prepares for Grade 1 and pre-primary enrolment

The Immanuel Ruiters Primary School hall at Walvis Bay was packed with parents during a meeting on Tuesday regarding the availability of pre-primary and Grade 1 spaces and the application process.

Walvis Bay circuit education inspector Theresia Goagoses said there are only 1 027 spaces available for Grade 1 next year, excluding pupils currently in pre-primary classes at state schools.

There are 324 spaces reserved for pupils currently in government primary schools and 265 for possible repeaters.

There is only space for 300 pupils at six government schools that offer pre-primary classes.

This includes: Seaside, Immanuel Ruiters, !Nara, Tutaleni, Flamingo and Narraville primary schools.

Grade 1 and pre-primary enrolments will take place on 4 and 5 June, respectively.

Parents were warned not to sleep in front of school gates prior to the enrolment date, as has been the case over recent years.

“We are asking parents not to queue in front of schools from Friday. The enrolment days will start from Tuesday. If you do not get a space, visit my office with the birth certificate to register your child’s name on the record-keeping list. There will be no record keeping lists at school. Registrations for the record-keeping list will take place until October,” Goagoses said.

She urged parents who enrol their children in private schools to enquire from the ministry if the schools are registered.

Some parents remarked that they were hoping to hear that the procedure had changed from previous years.

“Nothing about the registrations changed. This story will not work. People will queue up and sleep at the school anyway. Look at how many people came to the meeting [compared to] the spaces that are left. It looks like we will have the same situation all over again,” said Johny Jacob.

“The meeting was basically the same as all the other years. I did not hear any new news. Our children will either not get space and have to go back to preschool or we are facing extremely overcrowded classrooms,” said Maria Malakia.

Most Grade 1 pupils at the town are currently going to school under the platoon system while awaiting the completion of a senior primary school at Kuisebmond to ease the burden of classroom shortages for Grade 1 pupils.

The new school will accommodate pupils from grades 4 to 7.

The platoon system was introduced at !Nara Primary School this year to cater for Grade 1 pupils from High Hope Primary School. They will be taught in the afternoon and still wear the High Hope Primary School uniform.

They will then be moved back to their school when the senior primary school is completed.

By then, the grade 4 to 7 pupils will make space for them when they move to their new school.

The new school will be located opposite the service station near High Hope Primary School.