All 47 schools in the Omaheke Region are part of the Health Promoting Initiative Programme, aimed at improving their health and strengthening the teaching environment for better performance.

The initiative is a collaboration between the Ministries of Education and Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Omaheke Governor Pijoo Nganate emphasised that quality education should be accompanied by good health. Hence, the initiative should be coordinated in a manner that will address health challenges in schools.

"Schools create a unique opportunity to improve both the education and health status of learners. The Omaheke Region achieved 100% coverage of all 47 schools in the region by implementing the Health Promotion Schools Initiative. I wanted to bring all the governors here because this programme is only in Omaheke so that they can copy this."

A Public Health Officer of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Sirak Hailu, says the organisation remained focused and dedicated to ensuring that the initiative succeeded.

"Also, education can serve and support schools with healthy students to improve results; good health can also reduce dropouts and improve performance."

The principal of Gobabis Primary School, Anna-Regina Diergaardt, noted that health matters had been a thorn in the flesh in most schools. However, the situation has changed since the introduction of the initiative.
"The ablution blocks and water pressure were just a nightmare with more than one thousand learners, of whom the majority don't have the ablution facility at home. You can just imagine what would happen at school outside and around the ablution blocks."