Ongwediva — Oshana regional director of education Hileni Amukana expressed her surprise and admiration that rural schools are performing better than those in urban areas. She was speaking last week during a regional awards ceremony at the Nengushe Secondary School.

Amukana noted that this school was one of the previously under-performing schools, but which surprisingly improved by 29%. Pupils at most urban schools have access to more facilities, while the majority of schools in urban areas remain in dire need of repair. Moreover, many rural learners are taught under severely dilapidated structures. "Despite this, the pupils nonetheless perform admirably," said Amukana.

She observed that a bonus factor is that this school has a functioning garden, which provides plenty of nourishment for the learners. The garden is part of the school's feeding programme, and helps pupils to concentrate as it fuels their bodies throughout the day. School principal Natangwe Hamakali stated that the majority of pupils in urban schools are exposed to drug and alcohol addictions, which significantly contributes to low academic performance.

These two aspects are the most frequent causes of sub-par educational performance, he observed. This is because most of their study time is spent engaging in entertainment and other distractions.Said Hamakali: "Learners in rural schools hardly have access to some of these things, so their performance is very good".

He then requested any Good Samaritan to assist the school in whatever manner to renovate some of the crumbling buildings, or to assist with textbooks, library books or science laboratory equipment.

Meanwhile, chief of Uukwambi Herman Ndilimani Iipumbu donated a goat to the best learner in agriculture at the school.

The chief does this every year for the best performers in agriculture, and he purposefully chooses a female goat to enable winners to start a business with the offspring.