The Sesfontein Elias Amxab Combined School is in a dilapidated state and lacks classrooms, which greatly hinders the teaching process.

The school was constructed 68 years ago by German missionaries.

It currently accommodates 820 learners from grades zero to 11. Of the learner population, 352 are accommodated in the hostel.

Teachers and learners had nothing positive to say about the school's dilapidated state.

Learners from grades zero to three attend classes outside due to a lack of classrooms.

Classes are dismissed when the sun becomes too hot, which is usually the case by around ten o'clock in the morning.

Learners also share chairs, as these are insufficient, while teachers remain standing throughout lessons with no desks or chairs for them.

The ceiling panels have often fallen from the roof in the middle of lessons, though fortunately no teacher or learner has been injured.

Principal Shemunyenge Hamukwaya, who has only been at Elias Amxab Combined School for about two weeks now, is appealing to the business community for assistance.

"And all these challenges set us back when we want to do our best in teaching and learning, so we ask individual people and also some companies to support the school in different ways."

At the hostel, learners in grades 2 and 3 sleep on the floor because there are not enough beds and mattresses.

"So, we need an extra block, at least for the little ones to sleep in there, and some mattresses to give to the little ones to sleep on, as well as lockers," pleaded Kenare Metjiua, a learner at the school.

Teenage pregnancy is high among hostel girls, and boys are known to easily jump the wall that divides the accommodation blocks.

"Girls are getting pregnant; the block is divided by a wall that cannot separate girls and boys; like last year, we had 17 girls that were pregnant, so that is the biggest challenge. Actually, the hostel was renovated last year during COVID-19. But if you check now, it's almost the same, so we need to have a renovation of the hostel," said a concerned Karl Somseb, school board chairperson.

The kitchen has not been in use for over nine years because of broken pots, and at times, kitchen staff cooks outside in the scorching sun.

Old Mutual has stepped in with a donation of stationery and a first-aid medical kit, considering the lack of healthcare services in the area.

Ruben Nicanor is the Northern Regional Manager for Old Mutual. "The current president says let's build Namibia, but when you build a building, you cannot do it alone, so we want educated children because those are our customers."

The Elias Amxab Combined School is located in Sesfontein Settlement in the Epupa Constituency, about 455 kilometers from Otjiwarongo.