Govt allays fears at Mariental school

THE education ministry plans to start school counselling sessions after a pupil at Mariental Secondary School tested positive for Covid-19 on 18 June.

Hardap regional education director Gerhard Ndafenongo made the announcement during this morning’s Covid-19 information session in Windhoek.

Ndafenongo said their unit on special education is also assessing how pupils from other schools were affected.

“If the report comes that we need to move in, we will send in a (health) expert on school counselling to assist,” he said.

However, he noted that they have not received an extreme case which needs their attention.

Case number 37 is a 20-year-old Namibian pupil from Walvis Bay who attends Mariental Secondary School. The pupil, who is also boarding at the school, is said to have travelled to Mariental on 2 June.

The pupil was tested on 15 June. Classes at the school have been suspended and will resume on 6 July. However, those who were known to be in contact with the pupil at the school have been asked to remain.

Speaking on the curriculum, Ndafenongo said from 12 until 21 August, they want to run a mock examination for Grade 11 and 12 as the pupils need marks to apply for universities.

For their grades, they are discussing whether to write a test at a school level to monitor at what level the pupils are at.

In Oshana region, acting deputy director for Oshana Hilma Nuunyango-George said they have conducted a survey for Grade 11 and 12 to assess how far teachers have gone on coverage of the syllabus.

According to the survey, some teachers have completed their syllabus while some were at 70% and 50% completion.

Inspectors of education in Oshana region were divided in groups to all the 28 schools to assess the progress when face-to-face classes began. The regional director said there are few schools which still need to keep up.