Overcrowding continues to be a persistent issue in the classrooms of the Kavango West Region, despite the ongoing construction projects aimed at addressing this problem.

This information was shared by the Kavango West region's acting Education Director, Esther Karondo, in an interview with NBC News.

Kavango West Region continues to face severe classroom overcrowding, with some classes hosting up to 80 learners.

"Then we have other projects that are happening at Sharukwe, Nakazaza, and Rupert, where we have a four-classroom block at each school, two pre-primary classrooms, a library, a computer laboratory, and an ablution block. With the exception of Sharukwe, the other schools also have the administration block. So currently at Sharukwe we are at 70%; at Nakazaza we are at 65%. As well as Rupert, we are also at 65%."

Kavango West Region has 187 schools, with construction currently taking place at 13 different sites.

According to the Directorate of Education, the recommended teacher-learner ratios are one teacher to 15 learners for special classes, one teacher to 25 learners for lower primary, and one teacher to 35 learners for upper primary, while it is one teacher to 30 learners for secondary schools. 

The current classroom numbers far exceed those ratios in most schools. 

It was noted that overcrowded classrooms bring several challenges, including teachers struggling to provide learners individual attention, classroom management becoming difficult, learner concentration dropping, and disease spreading more easily in cramped spaces.

"Many of our schools will still need approximately eight to five additional classrooms to effectively address the problem, while we are currently providing only two classrooms, which is insufficient." 

Karondo calls on the teachers and learners to not lose hope but to deliver the best results despite the challenges, noting that the ministry is at work to see to it that the challenges are tackled.

"We should acknowledge that this is the situation that we are facing: that teachers are teaching in classrooms that are not conducive, where they cannot reach every child, where they cannot monitor the work that they are giving in class, but that shouldn't discourage them; we should keep on pushing. And for the learners, it is the same."

She calls on the business community to come on board and meet the government midway.