Three years, two unfinished classrooms

Karibib Junior Secondary School has been struggling with a shortage of classroom space, as an unfinished classroom block has stood incomplete for about three years, forcing teachers to find temporary spaces to teach pupils.The Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture says MRA Investments CC, the contractor which won a N$523 000 tender to construct the block, left the site in November 2022 after receiving part of the payment.

Construction was initially expected to take three months.

The school has about 300 pupils.

School board chairperson and senior teacher Unotjari Katupose says the lack of space becomes particularly difficult when pupils are divided according to their different language subjects.

“We have four different languages. When we split, we don’t have space anymore for the classes hence the new building which is under construction,” Katupose says.

He says teachers have resorted to using whatever space is available to accommodate pupils during language lessons.

“We look for makeshift [spaces]. We stand for that specific period and I bring my chair from the office, then we do the work,” he says,

He says the situation also affects how pupils and teachers move around the school during lessons.

“We don’t rotate the pupils, only the teachers, because if they rotate then there will be no spaces. The pupils will be outside,” Katupose says.

He says the current arrangements are only a temporary solution until the new classrooms are completed.

Katupose says completing the classrooms would ease the pressure on the school.

The stalled construction comes as the school continues to deal with the practical effects of limited classroom space, particularly when pupils have to be separated for different subjects.

The education ministry has confirmed that construction of the two classrooms started in August 2022 and was expected to take three months to complete.

Deputy minister of education Dino Ballotti says the project was awarded to MRA Investments CC at a contract value of N$523 911.74.

“Construction was not formally stopped by the directorate. The contractor discontinued work on the project after receiving a part-payment and subsequently left the site around November 2022,” Ballotti says.

He says the directorate has paid N$370 667.54 towards the project.

Ballotti says the government is now working on ways to address the classroom shortage at the school.

Two new classrooms are currently under construction and are expected to be completed within the next two months, he says.

The ministry is also working to complete the two classrooms left unfinished under the previous contract.

Ballotti says the outstanding works were advertised to appoint a new contractor, but the procurement process will have to be repeated. “The procurement process will have to be re-advertised following a review of the previous tender requirements to ensure that the necessary requirements are adequately provided for,” he says.

The post Three years, two unfinished classrooms appeared first on The Namibian.