The Regional Education Director in ||Kharas, |Awebahe  ||Hoeseb, commended the Anglo-American Namibian Foundation for providing nearly N$1 million for the construction of two classrooms, a storeroom, and ablution facilities at the Oosterheim Combined School in the village of Aroab.

Oosterheim Combined School was established in 1975 and currently has 30 teachers with 842 learners from grade 1 up to grade 11.

The school mainly caters to the rural community in and around Aroab.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, where construction is expected to be completed in three months' time, ||Hoeseb called on the business fraternity to assist rural schools with infrastructural development.

"I would like to call on our corporate partners to assist us. One can paint the outside, one can paint the inside, and one can assist us with minor renovations so that the kitchen and the dining hall can also be in tune with the rest of the building."

On his part, the Anglo-American Namibian Foundation representative in the Southern Regions, Richard Cook, reiterated that the foundation will continue to support the Namibian government's education agenda.

"We are particularly proud of the work we have done in this space, not only through contributions to construction but more importantly by investing in basic education through programs and the foundation continuing with its corporate social investment in southern Namibia as always. The foundation is working in partnership with the government, not only in education but in other government departments, and we do not dictate."

The school principal, Ingred Coetzee, and learners were equally delighted with the new development at their school.

"Currently the school is divided into two; we have the main building and we have the satellite school, and at the satellite school, we have grades 9 up to 11, but now that these two classrooms are being built here, we can send the grade 8s also up here, and then the two schools can be split into a high school and a primary school."