Learner Support Programme
Learner Support Programme
(Left) Learners at the Tamariskia Centre, participating in the Master Maths class.
The Rössing Foundation’s three education centres remain popular among learners. In addition to on-going support provided to learners from different schools in the English language, Mathematics and the Sciences, many learners flocked to all the centres the last few months of the year for examination preparations.
The focus of the Rössing Foundation support to the Junior Primary level was to strengthen the reading competencies of the learners in Arandis, Ondangwa and Tamariskia. In total, 335 Junior Primary learners were supported through literacy and numeracy programmes and they improved reading and numerical competencies. In addition, 107 Pre-primary learners benefitted from the reading programme in Arandis.
On Senior Primary level, 6,868 learners benefitted from the programmes offered at the three Rössing Foundation Centres. It should be noted that some learners attended classes on a regular basis throughout the year, while others attended sporadically and according to specific needs.
On Junior Secondary level, 3,082 learners acquired new knowledge and skills in the English language at all the centres.
The centres received fewer Grade 8 learners compared with other grades. This is an indication of learners adjusting to difficult content as the subjects are becoming more challenging.
A total of 9,896 learners on Senior Secondary level benefitted from the Rössing Foundation English, Mathematics and Science programmes at the Arandis, Ondangwa and Tamariskia Centres in 2019, surpassing the targeted number of learners.
The table below shows the number of learners supported in 2019.
LEARNING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
In December 2019, 20 Grade 10 learners from the Kahenge Combined School in the Kavango West Region went on a weeklong excursion to the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET). It is a vibrant environmental education site located in the Namib Desert.
The tour was a culmination of the combined efforts of the Rössing Uranium Mine, the Rössing Foundation and the Kavango West Education Directorate through Kahenge Combined School.
The excursion took place during the December holiday period and the learners showed great appreciation for the activity. Due to the long distance, the group had to overnight in Windhoek, and as it was the first time the learners visited the capital city of Namibia, it offered them a valuable opportunity to familiarise themselves with Windhoek and other towns along the way.
The activities were enriching to both the adult and young adult participants. They encouraged environmental awareness and promoted a symbiotic relationship between people and the environment. The general philosophy of NaDEET was that the learners had to take part and do things for themselves, as nothing was done for them. This ranged from meal preparation of a variety of dishes, cleanliness and time management. The learners had to maintain a journal of the activities for the duration of the tour. The activities were varied and included the following:
- Shopping in an environmentally conscious way
- Exploring sustainable energy
- Exploring environmental problems and solutions
- Measuring their environmental footprint
- Waste management and recycling
- Conservation of the giraffe
- Exploring biodiversity (the Dune Walk)
- Family lifestyle-solar cooking
- Environmental games
- The dark sky reserve
- Development decision (time/climate change), and
- Having fun with dune boarding.
Issues of environmental impact assessment were topical in all of the activities. There were both indoor and outdoor activities, which enriched the learners. There were also simulations of real life day-to-day human activities and real life governmental/institutional activities that prepared the learners for an environmentally conscious life at home and later in life as decision makers.
