Namibia’s leading digital enabler and most admired brand continue to raise the bar in ploughing back into the community when it launched the MTC Rural School Project this morning.
The project, which answers to the call to dilapidated schools that lack decent structures or have none at all will see MTC partner with the Ministry of Education, Arts & Culture and rural schools to either build new classrooms or renovate existing classrooms which are decrepit to ensure that the Namibian child learns in a conducive and safe environment.
Well aware for the status quo and the dire assistance the education fraternity needs, MTC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Licky Erastus said the telco stands united in the vision of ensuring that every Namibian child is taught under a decent classroom, and this project aims to support that vision.
“This is a CSI initiative and not a sponsorship. We are therefore inviting like-minded organizations to partner with MTC so that we can help more schools and hand them over with desk and chairs,” he said.
The first two schools that will benefit from the project are Sizongoro Combined School, situated 30km west of Rundu in the Kavango East Region, and Okondaune Primary School situated 5km before Opuwo. Both schools have indicated the need for four classrooms each.
“It is our intention to finalize this project by end of September 2020, and help more schools that are in need in 2021,” said Erastus, adding that it is the giant telecommunication’s deliberate mission to focus on rural schools and thus the need for guidance from the line ministry on which schools to target next.
Erastus also lauded the education ministry which is in process of building schools with students from NIMT who took part of the first round of the MTC Namibia National Internship Project, saying the institution has given positive feedback on the students with its clear intend to use the students in spearheading this project.
The MTC Namibia National Internship Project which addresses the huge challenge of internships in Namibia last year had a successful intake of 160 students. This year, despite the COVID challenges, the project already has a total of 95 students on the program.
Education minister Hon. Anna Nghipondoka extoled MTC for being a friend of education and supporting the ministry, highlighting that it is a collective responsibility while at the same time calling out other stakeholders to play their role.
“We would like to thank, recognize, and appreciate the donation of classrooms from MTC to our ministry. This is not the first time that MTC is supporting so it is vividly clear that MTC realizes that educating the Namibian child is a collective responsibility and that it takes a village to raise a child,” said Nghipondoka.
The minister indicated that Namibia is in need of over 5100 classrooms at a total cost of N$1.8 billion.