Rain, coupled with strong winds, caused damage to Sauyemwa Junior Primary and Ruben Makaranga Combined School at Rundu; both the roofs at the neighbouring schools' administration blocks were blown off on Tuesday night.

A severe windstorm and heavy rainfall in the Sauyemwa location of Rundu caused extensive infrastructure damage at both Sauyemwa Junior Primary School and Ruben Makaranga Combined School, creating panic and severely disrupting classes.

The rain also destroyed four tents at Sauyemwa Junior Primary School that night, which the school erected as temporary classrooms, damaging some books that were left inside.

"And then, as for now, the admin block has been moved into the storeroom where we are operating, and then one class is where we have put the teachers to use as a staff room, and it's affecting the teaching and learning a bit because the learners of that class we have put them into or divided them into different classes for them to get their lessons, but now their classes are having a bit more learners, because instead of having 35 learners, we have 42 or 43 learners in a class because we are waiting for when they will finish renovating the staff room. "It is when we will give the classroom back to the learners, and for the pre-primary also, the learners were moved from the class. "We have divided them into the other six pre-primary classes, and the class ratio for the pre-primary is supposed to have 25 learners in a class, but for now we have 32 in a class," explained the principal of Sauyemwa Junior Primary School, Regina Haingura.

The damaged tents are where learners were taught because their classes are under renovation.

"We hope the renovation will finish soon so that these learners can come back to their classes because even the tents are also destroyed, and they are torn. For now we have prepared them to take them to someone who can quickly amend them and then erect them in the afternoon so that these learners tomorrow they will be back in their classes."

Haingura, who also serves as the acting inspector for the Rundu Circuit West, said for now the situation is calm because the affected learners are attending their lessons, despite being squeezed into different classrooms.

"But we need the ministry through our directorate to come and renovate the admin block, including the pre-primary, which is attached to the admin block. And then the same situation happened at Ruben Makaranga, where the staff room and the roof were also blown out, and the papers, the smart screen, and the computers were still there, but the teachers are now removing the things and putting them in the storeroom so that they cannot get damaged from the water."

The two affected schools are located next to each other, but at Makaranga, the damage was only observed at the staff room.