All roads lead to education

The Aussenkehr Primary School is situated in the far south of Namibia, close to Noordoewer.
The primary school was opened only two years ago, on 18 January 2020.
Monique Adams
It currently has 29 classrooms, some of which were newly built by MTC and some of which were constructed with a donation from the Southern Africa Education Fund (SAEF) through the Treasury Institutions of the State Finance Act in 2019.

"Due to the lack of classrooms, we have made use of the Aussenkehr Christian Community Centre as temporary classrooms for the four pre-primary class groups," Susanna Kadhikwa, the school principal, said.

Kadhikwa said that a storm worsened the classroom shortages.

In August 2022, the school sent its profile to MTC for the MTC Rural Schools Project.

In November 2021, Tim Ekandjo, MTC's chief human capital and corporate affairs officer, informed the school that they had been selected for the project.

This project includes the building of six classrooms and one storeroom.

Education on offer

The Aussenkehr Primary School currently has 26 teachers, two administrative officers and three institutional workers.

The junior primary phase, grades 1–3, offers English (the medium of instruction), Afrikaans (a second language), environmental studies, mathematics, the arts, religious and moral education, and physical education.

Senior primary phase, grades four to seven: 4–7 offers: English (medium of instruction), Afrikaans (second language), natural science and health education, social studies, mathematics, elementary agriculture, design and technology, arts, physical education, religious and moral education, information communication technology, and life skills.

"Covid did not really disturb us," Kadhikwa said.

"By then, we had made use of the alternative days. For this year up to June, it was only the grade ones, because of the large number of learners who attended classes on alternative days, but they are back in full capacity."

The school offers and hosts social events like afternoon workshops (Aussenkehr Volunteer Project), athletics, sports day, the arts and culture festival, the Aussenkehr pageant, chess, science club and a spelling bee.