Opening of schools in phases proved fruitless - Nghipondoka
Education minister Anna Nghipondoka has said reopening schools in phases last year after the Covid-19 lockdown proved fruitless and disrupted the education setup, hence the decision to have all schools open on the same day this year.
Nghipondoka made these remarks on Wednesday while responding to questions from the media during the Covid-19 media briefing in Windhoek on why schools are not opening in phases like last year.
The minister said the education fraternity suffered severely because of the phased reopening of schools. She added that it forced many learners to drop out of school as they could not access e-learning.
She also blamed the increase in pregnancies amongst school girls on the delaying in the reopening of schools.
Nghipondoka further noted that during the first lockdown last year, 3 625 fell pregnant. The most pregnancies amongst school girls were recorded in the Omusati Region at 562, followed by Kavango West with 522 pregnancies.
Asked about the readiness of schools in terms of access to water and bathrooms, Nghipondoka said the government availed more than N$800 million to selected schools and most of these projects are completed.
“The project is still ongoing as we speak. NTA and August 26 were allocated tenders to construct and restore these facilitates. While we have some challenges with the awarding of tenders, what I can say is that we achieved success,” she added.
Nghipondoka also stated that the ministry with the assistance of other stakeholders will ensure that there is enough space in schools for social distancing, and added that parents should also alert schools through a health institution if a learner is infected for the school to take precautions.
Five schools have so far experienced sporadic cases. In all cases the learners were asymptomatic, the minister said.
She said the government will continue to supply schools with face masks and hand sanitisers to curb the further spread of the virus.