“We are delighted with our freshly painted classrooms. This has not only lifted the spirit of our teachers but also of our special girls,” says Lee-Anne Gaoses, Principal of the Eros Girls School in Windhoek. “13 classrooms have been renovated and it is a pleasure to teach in these beautiful new surroundings.”
Gaoses, who has been principal of this school for the past 7 years, expressed her delight and thanked Retirement Fund Solutions and Neo paints for their fantastic gesture. “The Eros Girls School is a special school for learners (14 years and older) with learning difficulties, who have often not performed well in an academic (General Education) school. Our mandate is to provide learners with Skills training and Vocational Training to enable them to occupy their rightful place in the corporate world. Our courses include office assistant, hairdressing assistant, food preparation and educare assistance.”
Reactions by the teachers and scholars have been positively upbeat and comments range from feeling proud to walk past the classes and seeing all the doors looking alike to ‘Absolutely beautiful, it’s like walking into a new classroom to ‘The class looks much neater, lighter, and beautiful,’ while learners commented that the class was now nice and bright and they were proud to be in their newly painted class and our teacher even put up matching curtains.’
Louis Theron, Associate Director of Retirement Fund Solutions said that they felt privileged to have been able to assist. “The school offers a special place to special girls in our community and as such deserves to be looked after. The reaction of teachers and scholars has been overwhelming, and we are proud that they can continue with their important vocational education in a more conducive environment.”
According to Ms. Gaoses, the greatest need was to paint the exterior of the school. “The school was built in 1965 and no major renovations have been done since then. The hostel has also been closed for the past 5 years due to a lack of maintenance. However, painting of the building outside is our biggest challenge. We have done everything possible to the infrastructure to qualify as a Vocational Centre, but the image of the building does not reflect what is being done inside. Painting the exterior will add value to our image and how people perceive Special schools.”