Other School Issues in Namibia

A student at Hage Geingob High School A secondary school serving families living in Katutura.

In addition to children coming to school hungry, Garises shared other issues occurring at her school. Schools in Namibia cost parents money and all the schools that we visited had costly uniform requirements. With HIV/AIDS contributing to the rising number of orphans, many children are being raised by relatives or friends and are frequently relocating. Most of the parents are illiterate, have no transportation, and many are without phones. If students can afford, or get scholarship monies, to attend school, they often have to walk long distances to and from school. During a "Katutura Economic Quest" on June 5, 2006, members of our group were told that one of the reasons for school uniforms is to help identify where students are from and who they are in the event they get hit by a car on their walk to school. All these factors make enrollment and attendance a problem at all of the state schools serving the formal and informal settlements.

Students playing netball during a break at Hanganeni Primary school in Swakopmund, Namibia

Garises stated that sport is limited by facilities and transportation. Typically boys play soccer and girls play netball. The boys can play soccer after school, but must travel to other schools and that, while netball is played in some schools, Garises said that "the girls are not interested in net ball". Netball is the official sport for girls in Namibia and is a game similar to American basketball in that it is played on a hard court with hoops (without backboards) at both ends. Teams consist of seven players who are assigned a position and are confined to playing in the third of the court designated for their position. Dribbling is not allowed in netball; rather, the game relies on passing to move the ball around.⁸ We were able to watch the children playing soccer and netball during the school day. Most of the children were actively involved and seemed very interested in participating. One wonders how Garises' comment on the "girls not being interested in netball" was assessed.