The founder and interim president of the National Organisation of Parents in Education (NAOPE), Paulus Hawanga, has called on all parents to work together with educators to ensure quality education results for children in schools. Hawanga made these remarks during a media briefing held recently in Rundu.
"Our submission is that at the circuit management, we must bring a change to make it a circuit board, because now we have a school board and we have a regional forum, but at the circuit, we don't have parental involvement. Only principals come together, and they form a management placement committee without parental involvement. What we want to see is that the chairperson of the school board in that circuit must elect parents who are serving on the school boards to be part of the circuit committee, or we can call it a circuit board, so that parents can be involved in the placement."
Furthermore, Hawanga emphasised the importance of parents hosting family meetings with their children so that they understand their children's psychological, spiritual, and emotional needs.
The principal of Ndama Combined School, Filippine Munkanda, noted that effective involvement of parents and teamwork would yield good results in any given school, despite challenges faced.
She added that Ndama Combined School is one of the highly overcrowded schools, but it takes teamwork, self-commitment, and acceptance of such situations to achieve goals.
"Parental involvement is very important in a child's education. The education of the child primarily lies in the three legs. The child himself, the school as a stakeholder, and the parents. The working together of the three brings out the best in every child. When the child understands the importance of going to school and the parent understands the importance of the child going to school and the school taking it as its responsibility to deliver, you will always yield out the best."
Ndama Primary School teacher Sophia Mbangu stressed the importance of communication between parents, teachers, and learners.
"We tell our parents to work on the learners behaviours at home, what to buy, stationery, and how to respond, maybe if we need them. It is also very important to know the parent's learners; also, parents should know the children's teachers to help the learner grow and help the learner with skills and abilities."
Ndama Combined School was ranked number four in the NSSCO national ranking and also ranked second in the Kavango East Region for government schools.
On the same occasion, the NAOPE Secretary of Education, Govanni Mwaku, stressed the need for extra mural activities in schools.
"Let us support our children. They might not be good in education, but they might be good in one or two sports codes. So let us be there for them, let us support them then, let's give them that moral support."