Windhoek Rural Councilor, Piet Adams, has assured Mix informal settlement residents that a primary school will be opened in the area over the next three months.

Adams’s assurance came after community members pleaded with the government to open up a school, stressing their children are denied education due to the lack of school facilities in the area. The school, which was constructed in 2017, could not be opened due to a lack of water and electricity.

The partially built school has a block of three classrooms, an office and toilet facilities.

Adams noted that the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture, in conjunction with the Mix Local Development Committee, are busy compiling a database to determine the number of leaners from the settlement that are attending school in various areas around Windhoek.

“At this stage, the ministry is also trying to sort out the staff establishment as well as the issues of setting up of the septic tanks for water supply. A contractor is on the sight to build more classrooms for the school. Hopefully, the school will be opening within the first trimester, if everything goes according to plan,” said Adams.

Speaking to Nampa on Tuesday, a community leader from the informal settlement, Jonas Nghifikwa, said parents were hoping for the school to open during the 2023 academic year, however they have continued to suffer the same fate as previous years.

“We are hoping for the school to be opened. Many parents have children who are not attending school because they cannot afford the N. dollar 600 taxi fare per month or send their children to boarding schools,” he said

In an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, Executive Director in the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, also confirmed that the contractors at the school are busy with electricity and water installation.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency