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High-tech ICT lab for Donatus Primary from owners of Otjikoto Gold Mine

High-tech ICT lab for Donatus Primary from owners of Otjikoto Gold Mine

An Otjiwarongo school, renowned for its educational excellence, last week inaugurated a brand new computer laboratory complete with airconditioning, high-speed network and internet connectivity.

The award winning Donatus Primary received 42 computers and a file and network server as a donation from the Otjikoto gold mine, located in the vicinity of Otjiwarongo. The equipment in the computer lab is valued at around N$350,000. This is excluding the building.

Donatus Primary School was established in 2010, originating from the former German primary school. Donatus began with only 189 learners but today boasts more than a thousand learners. The school has been awarded the Merit Award Gold Certificate and Trophy from the former Governor of the Otjozondjupa Region, Hon. Samuel Nuuyoma, for its academic progress in the 2013 and 2015 Primary School SATs for Grade 5 and Grade 7.

It was also crowned the Best-Performing Primary School in the Otjozondjupa Region at the Regional Awards Ceremony.

The new computer lab was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by all the teachers and learners, school board members, the Otjozondjupa Directorate in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, and by B2Gold officials.

Donatus principal, Hester Campbell, said the new computer centre is a dream come true. “The donations received from B2Gold Namibia will be utilised to improve the learning and teaching standards of the school. This donation will benefit the learners immensely and will have a lasting impact on the future of our great schoo.” she said.

Canadian miner, B2Gold is the owner and operator of the Otjikoto Gold Mine in the Otjiwarongo district. The mining company sponsored the full value of the computer lab as part of its Corporate Social Responsiblity commitment.

At the inauguration, the Chairman of the School Board, Simon |Oxurub, thanked the mining company for playing such a pivotal role to enable the learners to bridge the ICT gap: “Primary school educators nowadays deal with children of the digital or net generation; that is, with children that were born into a world where breath-taking digital technologies have become commonplace” he stated.

“Thus, with the inception of the computer lab, underprivileged learners with little or no experience in working with computers, now have an equal and accessible opportunity to learn and explore the new world that ICT infrastructure can offer” he elaborated.


 

 

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