Home > Effects of Apartheid on Physical Education & Sports
Effects of Apartheid on Physical Education & Sports
Traditionally, sport in Namibia has been limited to the white elite and is
organized along racial and ethnic lines. The rural state schools, serving
places like Katutura where the formal and informal settlements are, either
have no playing fields at all, or have dirt fields. The private schools and
state schools serving primarily white children (or black children from
wealthy families), have grass playing fields with actual goals with nets on
them. It's evident that the disparity between the wealthy white and the blacks
that has existed for decades is still in existence and is going to be difficult
to overcome.
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Hage Geingob Secondary School
Typical playing fields of rural state schools in Namibia. |
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Windhoek High School
Typical playing fields serving private or state schools serving white or wealthy black families. |
On Monday, June 5, we had the
opportunity to visit Hage Geingob Secondary
School in Katutura and talk with the principal,
Hanna Garises. The school is five years old
and serves primarily orphans and children
from the informal settlements in Katutura.
While the school has received money from
a partnership with Maryland in the United
States, they are still struggling for money
to meet basic educational needs of the families
they serve. The children come without being
fed and hungry. They have an after school-feeding
program, which serves soup and donuts. They
know breakfast would be preferable so the
children are fed and better prepared to learn,
but they do not have staff to prepare and
feed the children in the morning. On several
occasions we heard from students and staff
that physical education (PE) is often on
the school schedule in rural state schools,
but it is basically recess. During an interview
with Agnes Tjongarero, current Namibia National
Olympic Committee President, on June 7, 2006,
she stated that PE "is
in the curriculum but there are no trained
teachers".
What a school offers for sport and PE depends
on its history; the urban state schools
(which used to serve white children), already
have the facilities and therefore can offer
more sport choices and attract trained teachers.
Unfortunately, the teachers end up getting
a preparation
break while the children either play or sit
and talk. Getting trained PE teachers and
retaining any teacher is an issue at the
schools. With a low salary, poor facilities
and equipment, and tough issues to deal with,
retaining teachers is a struggle.
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