New pre-primary classrooms at Suiderhof Primary School

WINDHOEK, 23 Apr) – The Suiderhof Primary School in the capital has been expanded with the addition of new classrooms for pre-primary education.
This came after the principal’s house on the school premises was turned into a pre-primary school, consisting of four classrooms.
The new classrooms of the public school were inaugurated on Friday by Khomas Education Director, Gerard Vries.
During the event, Principal Adriaan van Wyk recalled that when he was appointed in 2016 to lead the school, he realised the need for a pre-primary school at the Suiderhof Primary School, as it was one of the leading schools in the Khomas Region.
“I realised the school has this house – originally built and used for many years – that could be turned into a suitable place for pre-primary education,” he explained.

Vries, on his part, said the support rendered by Government through the Khomas Regional Council (KRC) in turning this house into a pre-primary school is evidence enough that Government is trying very hard to bring pre-primary schools to every existing primary school.
Both Vries and Van Wyk are of the opinion that pre-primary education is necessary for every child, laying a solid foundation as it covers a single year of school readiness activities before the commencement of formal primary education in Grade 1.
The KRC, according to Vries, managed to establish 104 classrooms at 39 primary schools since 2008 to date, amidst the challenge of shortage of space at most schools.
In an effort to bridge classroom space challenges, smart partnerships with different organisations were formed of which examples include the Rainbow Pre-school in Windhoek West, Paulus //Gowaseb Day Care Centre in Okahandja Park and Jonas Hainduwa Early Childhood Development in Ombili, said the director.
Suiderhof Pre-primary was established in 1977 with 22 learners, but all pre-primary schools in the country were closed in 1995. In 2006, pre-primary schools were then transferred from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare to the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture. The process of integrating these schools into the mainstream primary schools commenced in 2008.
(NAMPA)