Kalkrand’s AA Denk Memorial Primary School choir was on Saturday night crowned the inaugural winners of the Hardap Region education inspirational song competition.

Ten schools from the region participated in the competition that took place at the Mariental Sports Stadium.

According to Hardap Region Education Director Gerhardt Ndafenongo, the competition, which is set to become an annual event, is aimed at choosing a song that will unite and create an identity for the region.

“The winning song will be sung at our events in all our 61 schools. Music is a gift to save others and can also be a career if you carry on with it. Therefore, we as teachers should ensure that the children in our care explore their talent to benefit them in the future,” he said.

Speaking at the end of the competition, Hardap Governor Reverend Salomon April said it is time that the region makes music not just for entertainment, but for economic activities, saying the inhabitants should use their talents to employ others.

“Your talent should give you a job, tonight we have shown that Hardap has talent, we can communicate through art and culture, we are a region on fire,” he said.

AA Denk Memorial Primary School principal, Veronika Axakhoes said “We are really happy for this win and thank the directorate for such a platform to expose our learners. We never had a school choir and this has made us start one, as we have seen that we have singers at our school. It was a tough competition, the choirs had talent.”

The school walked away with N.dollars 15 000, a trophy and gold medals, while in second place, Dawid Junior Secondary School choir from Maltahöhe walked away with N.dollars 10 000 and silver medals. PJ Tsaitsaib Combined School choir from Hoachanas won N.dollars 5 000 and bronze medals in third place.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency