Stringent measures and policy interventions are needed to address the non-attendance of early childhood development classes among children with disabilities.

Two years ago, the Deputy Minister for Disability Affairs, Alexia Manombe-Ncube, said about 2 595 children with disabilities aged between three and five did not attend early childhood development programs in Namibia.

Speaking at the handover of toiletries and food items to learners with disabilities at Eluwa Resource School, the Chief Education Officer in the Lifelong Learning Division in the Oshana Region, Beata Iita, also said some children had also dropped out of school for various reasons.

Iita says the government is committed to ensuring equitable and inclusive access to quality education to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

She says the ministry of education, through the division for special school programs, is working in collaboration with the Rob Youth Foundation, which donated items to the school, to ensure that the needs of children with disabilities are addressed.

"On behalf of our education director, I would like to thank you for the donation since this will help our learners to be in school and it will encourage them to be committed to their school work."

The Rob Youth Foundation's Marketing Manager, Laina Mwatukange, says since the establishment of her foundation, they have visited all of the country's 14 regions to engage the learners on the challenges they face at the school and community level.

The biggest challenges they discovered were school dropouts due to pregnancy and a lack of sanitary pads.

"We found, for instance, that more female learners engaged in sexual activities with older men in order for them to get money for sanitary pads, toiletries, and food because of a crippling financial background. This has led to a high rate of teenage pregnancy in the country, Oshana included."