Education is something that you don’t think much of while you’re in school. You don’t want to go to class, you don’t feel like doing homework, the best part of your day is the 20-minute break at around 10:00 before you trudge on to the different classes. And so it goes, for 12 long years, and then you go to study for another year, or three or five, and then you get a job. And still, the simple idea of education never truly gains traction in your mind. It’s just schooling after all.
Until it’s not.
One doesn’t take much time to consider the impact schooling, or a really good teacher, has on us as youngsters, or years later, on our children. If you’re financially stable enough or have a bursary, you’re lucky to enrol your children into private schools in the cities. Here, hopefully the quality of schooling is as it should be. However, in the rural areas access to schools is limited to begin with, and access to good schools is even harder to come by.
Gondwana Care Trust has had a few different focuses over the years. One of the goals is to support sustainable projects, and to never create a dependency. In 2022, the Trust came across a very interesting project that while not new, for the first time piqued our interest – Eduvision Online Learning.
Founded in Otjiwarongo, by a few passionate teachers and stakeholders – Eduvision strives to bring access to quality education to schools in rural communities. There, where children go to school with limited access to resources, or textbooks, sometimes even teachers… There, Eduvision steps in to offer access to a different kind of education system. Arriving with a high-tech smartboard, projector, microphone system, and proper broadband internet supplied by Paratus – Eduvision installs this system into a classroom and provides comprehensive training to the teachers and learners on how to use the system. Suddenly, “limited, to no-access”, becomes full access to well-trained school teachers, recorded lessons, and a classroom where teachers and learners can engage with other teachers in real-time.
With a focus on grades 10 to 12, and subjects Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and now English – this system has successfully been installed in 19 schools across Namibia. The team at Eduvision have an ambitious goal of supporting 50 schools by 2026. Beyond this program, the team is also in the process of developing the full curriculum for grades 1 to 3; which will offer a well-rounded schooling experience with the first and last grades being catered to.
A project this special, demanded the attention of the Gondwana Care Trust and we reached out to the Eduvision Team to find out how we can support them. While the project is being exceptionally managed, financial resources are always needed and a comprehensive fundraising-networking event has been hosted to engage with the Corporate Community of Namibia and encourage them to get involved in this special project.
Here, finally, children from across Namibia can access good-quality schooling, and therefore take back control and ownership of their academic futures. Suddenly, children from rural communities can access university-admission, should they choose to put in the work.
Should you wish to get involved as well, there is more than enough room to do so! Check out our Education page on the Gondwana Care Trust website and reach out to us to find out more on how you can offer support and aid to these rural schools or the Eduvision Project.
Author: Jescey Bekker
Photos: Marlene Orffer and Ndinelao Shikemeni